Down a Manhole and into a Mad World
by 8888littlecat8888
Summary: AU. When Maka falls down an open manhole, she never expected to land in a world full of shadows, a strange desert town that had once been ruled by a powerful god overtaken by a witch with incredible power. Finding friends along the way, Maka helps lead a rebellion. Rated M for language.
1. Prologue

**I do not own Soul Eater.**

* * *

Prologue

There once was a powerful kingdom in a place between Heaven, Hell, and the Surface. This kingdom was ruled by a powerful god. This god ruled for many centuries and most were happy with his rule. Before his rule, the kingdom was rotten and broken. He cleaned the kingdom up after overtaking it from a tyrant ruler. The god claimed the kingdom and healed it. The god had an army of powerful knights. If anyone was unsatisfied with his rule and decided to rebel is a stupid and harmful way, the knights would easily take them down. You can't satisfy everyone at the same time after all.

Among these knights was the god's first born son. His son was powerful, but he was terribly paranoid. He was afraid of everything and everyone. He became distrustful of everyone and soon was driven mad. He was so mad and distrustful that he took the life of his own partner assigned by the god. He let his madness and paranoia consume him and killed a man unjustly. Appalled by his son's actions, the god had his son beheaded. A life for a life.

The god then had another son. He had half of the lines required to be a mature god wrapped around the side of his head. This son was talented and the god grew proud of him. He loved his child dearly. This child grew safe in the palace walls. The god's mask grew from one of harsh and callous to kind and charismatic. The kingdom grew in both land and wealth. The god lead the kingdom into a golden age. His son grew into a dashing young man who was responsible and talented. With training and intelligence, the son was the god's pride and joy.

Taking advantage of the abundance of wealth in the kingdom, the god sponsored a school for all of the children in the kingdom. This school was built in an extension off of the palace. Even though his son believed he didn't need further education, the god enjoyed seeing the children of the kingdom learn and grow.

One night when the son was far from the kingdom attending his first meeting as heir, a rebellion from inside of the school overthrew the god. The god had let his guard down and became comfortable with the life he led because of the kingdom's wealth. A traitor who posed as a trusted person in the school had taken the god's comfort into consideration, and used it to their advantage. When they decided that the god had let his guard down enough, they struck.

The god's son screamed in pain as the three lines connected and wrapped fully around his head.

* * *

 **Oh my has it been a long time since I've written anything. As you can see by the fact that I have over 90 stories in my "favorites" category, I've been reading a lot more than I've been writing. To be honest I was going to give up on writing all together, but then the idea of this story came to me. I have been wanting to write for a while, but just couldn't think of anything. Then I started watching Markiplier's let's play for the game Fran Bow and I thought the game was so interesting. This is an AU that is (very) loosely based off of Alice in Wonderland and the game Fran Bow. I hope you enjoy reading it, though I can't promise I will update very quickly.**

 **Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes.**

 **-littlecat**


	2. Chapter 1

**I do not own Soul Eater.**

* * *

Chapter One

Maka didn't know what she expected when she ran into the rain to get away from her father. To slip, probably. To be cold, definitely. To run into someone as she ran in a blind rage, sure, why not. To slip and fall after turning a corner, yeah sure. It was a sharp turn. What she did not expect was to fall into an open manhole. It felt like she fell in slow motion at first. She had been running one moment, and the next she was falling, and fast. Her chest seized in panic, and she tried to grasp the edge as she fell. Her hand missed by a centimeter, and instead she managed to knock a cone down with her.

 _What a wonderful way to start my evening_. Maka thought bitterly to herself. _First I come home to find Papa drunk off his ass with some random lady he probably had just met today, now, not only am I soaking wet, but I'm about to break my neck by falling down a manhole. Isn't this just fantastic._

Maka closed her eyes tightly. Any time now, and her neck would snap because of the impact and angle of her fall.

Any time now.

Any time now.

Any time now.

Maka opened her eyes. She was still falling. The light from the surface was now an inch in diameter and shrinking fast. She looked to her right. The cone was still there.

"What the fuck," she said to herself. Pulling the cone towards her, Maka watched as the last remaining bit of light coming from the surface disappeared. "Now it's dark. I'm cold, soaked, and I forgot my phone," she muttered pulling the cone to her chest. _The suspense of when the ground will appear is killing me._ She sighed and turned her head. There was nothing but black around her. _Did I fall into a bottomless pit? At this rate, I won't die from the impact of the fall, but starvation._

" _What do you mean I'm not getting 60 keb for this? I got exactly what you asked for!"_

Maka blinked. "Voices." She turned towards them.

" _You got cheap ones. These look like they'll fall apart any minute!"_

" _Well this was the best I could find on such short notice."_

The voices were getting louder. Maka hugged the cone tighter to her chest.

" _I'll give you 50 keb,"_

" _No you promised 60,"_

The voices were so close. Maka could see the two people speaking now. One with dark hair, and the other with white hair.

" _Fine I'll give you 60 keb,"_ the one with dark hair stated.

The figures were getting larger now.

" _Thank you. Always a pleasure to bargain prices with you Jack,"_ the person with white hair said smugly.

" _Yeah whatever Soul,"_

Maka watched as the one named Soul was getting closer and closer. By now Jack was walking away quickly, grumbling and carrying a large, lumpy burlap sack.

"Oh fuck," Maka exclaimed.

Soul looked up and the cry. His eyes widened and Maka found that they were a crimson red.

"What the-" he started.

 _Smack!_

Maka closed her eyes as her body slammed into something hard. She grunted as she tumbled on the ground. When she opened she eyes, she found herself halfway on top of the white-haired man named Soul. Her shoulder hurt from slamming into another person, and her cone had been lost in the tumble.

"An outsider."

Maka looked towards the voice. It was the Soul, his eyes wide.

"What?"

"You fell from the Surface," he stated.

"I fell from the Surface," Maka stated.

"Does that mean that you're human?" Soul asked.

"What else would I be?" Maka asked brashly.

"A shadow," Soul stated. Catching a glimpse of his sharp teeth, Maka sat up, and shifted away from the strange man, pushing the hair from her eyes.

"What's a shadow?" Maka asked, getting up shakily. That fall hurt. She wiped the dirt off of her skirt the best she could, and thanked the gods that she bothered to put shorts on under her skirt this morning. Her skirt had flipped up in the fall, and being around a stranger made her anxious. Adjusting her braid, she raised her eyebrows for the white-haired man to answer her question.

"They're exactly what they sound like. They're shadows of what people used to be." Soul stood, and shoved his hands in his pockets, not bothering to dust himself off. He stood in a slouched position, almost lazily. The man was wearing dark jeans and a grey t-shirt under a leather jacket. His wild hair was held away from his face with a thin black headband. There was a bandana tied loosely around his neck and he had scuffed up combat boots on his feet.

"Well I'm human, still me," Maka said, crossing her arms. "I'm Maka by the way," she said, holding her hand out.

"Soul," he said, shaking her hand.

"I assume you're human then?" Maka said, taking off her sweater and tieing it around her waist. It was still wet, but it kept her shirt fairly dry in the rain. Her skirt was damp but her shorts were dry, and her socks and boots were soaked because of all of the puddles she had dashed through.

"Nah," he responded with a lopsided grin, showing off his sharp teeth. Seeing Maka's eyes widen, and her face go pale, he stated, "I'm a demon. I used to be human though,"

"A demon?" Maka asked in disbelief. "But demons and angels and all that stuff," she started, shaking her head, "they don't exist."

"I didn't think that either until I died and woke up in this shithole." He looked off to the side and adjusted his headband. "I can't possess people or anything. I'm not evil either, or at least I don't go off killing people and causing people to suffer for fun."

"So you died and woke up here," the blonde girl stated. "But I'm not dead, I just fell down a manhole."

"I don't know how things work down here. All I know is that one minute I'm driving and a rabbit jumps in front of the car, causing me to swerve, and the next thing I know, I wake up here," Soul placed his hand back in his pockets. "So you fell down a manhole," he cocked his head to the side. "Why are you all wet?"

"It was raining and I slipped and fell."

"You fell down a manhole, and into here," Soul muttered to himself.

"What is 'here' anyway?" Maka asked, undoing her braid, and putting her wet hair in a ponytail. "I fell down a hole, does that make me Alice? Down the rabbit hole?" Maka laughed lightly. "Is this Wonderland? Is there an evil Queen of Hearts and talking flowers? Is there a caterpillar who smokes? An unbirthday party?"

"As much as I love seeing how amused you are by this, I must remind you that this is a shithole. This isn't Wonderland, besides not only is that place magical and full of color, which this place is not, but I'm pretty sure that name is copyrighted or something," Soul shrugged. "I think this is some kind of limbo."

"But you're dead. No offence, but shouldn't you be in Hell right now. Since you're…"

"Probably, to be honest," Soul said, starting to walk to a pile of rubbish and leaves. "But I've met humans here as well as demons." He squatted down next to the pile, and started to move the trash out of the pile. "I've met all kinds of creatures down here." Soon, a backpack was uncovered, and once it was on his back, Soul kicked the rubbish back into place. Maka watched as Soul patted the sides of his bag to make sure the bottles in the mesh pockets were all in place. The bottles were glass, and brownish in color. If Maka had to guess, she'd say there was medicine or some kind of drink in the bottles. Soul made a motion with one hand telling Maka to follow him while he used the other to cover his nose and mouth with the bandana around his neck. He lead her to a large brick wall, and took off his bag. As he started to sift through it, Maka looked up and around to really register what this 'limbo' looked like.

The sky was a pale bluish-grey, and there seemed to be no clouds in the sky. There were several brick buildings surrounding the two of them, rows on either side of the road in front of them, and they seemed to be in an alley between two of the buildings. The buildings looked old, and the road in front of Maka was cracked and faded. There was a building across the road that had large windows which displayed a number of odd things from cracked porcelain dolls to masks both for wearing and decoration. It was still light out, so Maka decided it was still day, though it seemed to be getting darker. Maka looked around the sky again and felt her breath catch in her throat. The sun had a face. It was grinning and laughing, spiky and bright.

"Yeah the sun is pretty weird here." Maka was started out of her thoughts by Soul's voice. Looking over to him, she saw that he had a bundled up piece of black fabric. "Here, put that on. It'll help you fit in better. Things around here know me, but you're new and fresh from the surface. So how old are you anyway?"

Maka unfolded the fabric. It was a black cloak. The ends were kind of frayed, but it seemed to be in pretty good shape. The fabric was light, and the clip to button the cloak shut had a green gem on it. Maka fastened the clip, and pulled the hood over her head. Soul gave her a thumbs up, and shrugged his bag back on.

"I'm eighteen," Maka responded. "You?"

"When I died I was twenty." Soul looked around the buildings and up and down the down the road. "Okay, this place is a little strange. Just stay by my side, be quiet, and try not to stare if we cross paths with someone. Act like you belong here." Soul instructed.

Maka nodded and walked quickly to keep up with his pace once they started traveling down the road. They appeared to be on a road with a lot of shops. The road seemed relatively empty excluding a couple of dark, wispy figures, and a person with a plague doctor mask dressed in a victorian dress. The hand Maka saw through the worn glove appeared thin and pale, like a corpse's. She shook her head and focused on the road ahead of her and Soul beside her. She kept her face neutral, and walked with a straight back to feign confidence. Once they were a distance away from the shops Soul spoke again.

"I am planning on meeting with someone, and we have to meet them before dark in the campsite." He said.

"Why before dark?" Maka asked, pulling her hood down.

"Because when it gets dark, the monsters come out."

* * *

 **We've met Soul! First chapter and everything! Okay, I've decided to update every Monday if I can. Not this upcoming Monday, but starting next Monday I'll update every week. If I don't, then feel free to come at me in mobs with pitchforks and torches.**

 **Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors.**

 **-littlecat**


	3. Chapter 2

**I do not own Soul Eater**

* * *

Chapter Two

"Hey Soul, I've been meaning to ask you something. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, but I'm honestly just curious," Maka said. The two were walking quickly along a dusty dirt path, trying to get to 'the campground' before sundown.

"Hmm? Okay, shoot."

"Were you albino as a human, or did your features change when you came down here?"

"I've always been albino. The only difference is that down here I have perfect 20/20 vision. Albinos have terrible vision you know," he stated with a grin.

Maka nodded. "How much farther?"

"I think we're almost there." Soul stated. He looked around and nodded. "We're close,"

"So who is this person you planned to meet up with?" Maka asked, pace quickening with Soul's as his eagerness to get to their destination started to show.

"He's an old friend. Actually, you would probably like his girlfriend," Soul said with a lazy grin. "I don't know if you would like him though. He can be a bit… how do I phrase this?" He thought for a moment. "Obnoxious,"

Maka laughed. "If he's obnoxious then why are we meeting up with him?"

"Like I said, he's an old friend. He's been in here longer than I have. He's the one that guided me when I first woke up here. His girlfriend made him a bit more bearable," Soul chuckled. "He isn't that bad. I just think he comes on a bit too strong,"

"He guided you like you're guiding me?" Maka asked.

"Exactly," he nodded.

"What does your friend look like? And his girlfriend?" Maka asked.

"Well he has bright blue hair and tan skin. He has this tattoo on his right shoulder of the outline of a star. He's strong. His girlfriend is tall, and has long black hair. She always keeps it up in a ponytail." Soul laughed quietly. "She usually controls him when he gets too energetic."

"They sound like quite the pair," Maka said with a smile. This friend of Soul's sounded like someone she knew when she was younger.

Soul slowed his pace, and Maka looked away from him to see a large area of dry dirt with tents covering the majority of its surface. The surrounding area was covered by tall white trees that were so close together, they seemed to act as a wall. Maka stared in awe at the different people walking around the campground. There was a tall, stitched up man, whose arms were disproportionately long. Two tall, slim, masked women stood with their arms linked, one with a mask conveying comedy, and the other tragedy. A man with odd hair and glasses stood next a man with glasses resembling those of Cyclops from the X Men.

"Okay I think he'll be further towards the center." Soul stated, scanning the area.

"Oh, is that where he usually camps?" Maka inquired politely.

"Yeah, because it's easier to get everyone's attention that way." Soul said with a chuckle.

Soul maneuvered through the maze of tents, Maka following closely behind him. Several people waved at him of nodded. He nodded back with his lazy grin in place. A couple people eyed Maka suspiciously. She couldn't blame them, she was new after all. She brushed off the stares and continued forward behind Soul.

"You don't look like you have a tent in your bag," Maka commented.

"That's because I don't," he said, grinning. Soul stopped, and turned to face Maka his arms open wide. He wore a toothy grin and stepped backwards a couple of steps. "Home sweet home." Behind him was a canvas tent. "I don't carry around a tent because I share this one with my friend. Nobody bothers it, and it's still in pretty good condition."

"Where is your friend?" Maka asked, taking off the cloak and folding it up.

"He's probably in the medical tent," Soul shrugged.

"Oh, no. Why would he be there?" Maka's eyebrows knit together in concern. "Here," she said, handing the cloak to Soul.

"You should probably keep it. You're still new, you don't want to stand out too much around here. People grow suspicious easily. That'll help you fit in." Maka nodded, pulling the cloak into her chest. "My friend, he likes to attract attention." Soul walked towards the tent and opened one of the flaps, motioning for Maka to go in first.

"And I assume that's bad," she said, walking through the entrance. The inside of the tent had two large chests and a desk with several drawers and two throw pillows on top of it. In one corner was a large wardrobe and next to it was a dresser with a bundled up bag on it.

"Well it's bad considering what he does," Soul shrugged off his bag, and took out a small sack. Smirking as he tossed it up in the air and it fell back in his hand with a metallic _chink_. "Well, what we do, really,"

"And what is it that you do?" Maka asked with a raised brow.

"We're thieves," Soul said, hopping up onto the desk.

"Thieves… but when I was falling I heard you making a deal. Or at least that's what it sounded like," Maka said. "You were talking about keb. What's that?"

"Keb is the money we use down here. It's like dollars in America or yen in Japan."

"So you were trading what you stole for keb," Maka stated. Sighing, Maka brushed hair out of her eyes. "How large is the campground?"

Soul thought for a second, looking up at a corner of the tent. "Huh. I don't know. It's a very large piece of land, surrounded by trees. As you could tell from the long path we took to get here, it's really isolated."

"Why is everyone living in the campground anyway? I thought I saw a town further up the road," Maka said, untying her sweater from around her waist and draping it over one of the chests to allow it to dry more. Other than her sweater, which was a heavier material, Maka was dry.

"Well we are very close to the city. The road we took led to the city and the palace," Soul sighed. "But everyone that is here is either angry about or in danger because of the new ruler. The new queen." Scratching his head, Soul continued, "I wasn't here for it because I woke up here around two years ago, but a bit before I woke up here, there was a god that ruled over the city. They were a great ruler, or so I'm told."

"So who lives in the cities then?" Maka asked, adjusting her socks which had fallen down her leg since she had fallen.

"I think mostly shadows and witches live there. Some demons I guess," Soul hopped off the desk and moved towards the entrance of the tent. Peeking outside and seeing the darkness Soul looked back at Maka. "Anyway, there are mats and pillows in the chests for sleeping. The wardrobe has blankets and coats I think. Or it should anyway," Soul walked over to the wardrobe and peeked inside. Yeah there's a couple coats hanging up in here. There's also some clothes in here, but most of them are in that dresser," he said pointing to the dresser. He picked up the bag and shook it slightly to show Maka the size. "This is the laundry sack. Every now and then Tsubaki will clean the clothes and drag us along with her to the stream."

"Your friend isn't here yet, is he usually in medical this long?" Maka inquired.

"Not usually, though it depends on where he went to steal," Soul sighed. "And how late he got back." Taking his thin hair band out of his hair, he pushed his white, messy hair back and placed the band back on his head. "Okay, let's go."

"To the medical tent?" Maka pulling the cloak on to her back and pulling the hood over her head. "But it's dark outside."

"Don't worry," Soul said, pulling several small knives out of his bag. "Just stick with me and you'll be fine." He walked over to Maka, stopping in front of her to pull down her hood. "You don't have to put your hood up, it's dark."

"Thanks," Maka said with a smile. "Were those knives you just put in your jacket?"

"Yeah," Soul chuckled lightly. "I used to play with darts with my brother and his friends. I was pretty good. Down here you need some kind of weapon, and with some help and supplies I became really good with throwing knives." Soul walked back the entrance of the tent, and adjusted the bandanna around his mouth and nose. "I don't want to worry you or anything, but you will need to get a weapon at some point. Did you ever play any sports or do any fencing or anything?" Soul asked, holding the tent flap open for Maka to walk through.

"Well when I lived Nevada I was really good at volleyball," Maka said. "My friend was a great setter and convinced me to join. She managed to get me to be the team's libero, and that position worked out well because I'm able to move fast to save the ball." Maka sighed remembering the last game she played as a sophomore before her father's job required that they move for another position of higher pay.

"Libero, so that's the one that plays in the back right?" Soul asked as the two made their way to the tent. Maka was sticking close, and though she walked with a straight back, and feigned confidence well, Soul could tell that she was nervous.

"Yeah. I had to work to save the ball and could come and go on the court as they need. Liberos have to wear a different colored jersey and the bookkeepers have to keep track of when they go on the court," Maka said with a smile. She felt an ache in her chest from the nostalgia.

"So you can move fast and have quick reflexes. That's good," Soul said. Seeing the look on the blonde's face, he asked, "What were your team colors back then?"

"They were red and white. I had to wear a white jersey," Maka said.

The two fell into a comfortable silence as Soul led the way to the medical tent. As they maneuvered their way through the other tents of various sizes and material, Maka took note the the variety of different looks of the creatures on the campground. Some looked human, some looked human excluding a few features like horns or the amount of limbs one has. Others just didn't look human at all. When Soul slowed to a stop in front of the entrance to a large canvas tent, Maka knew they were in front of the medical tent.

"Okay, just a warning," Soul started, "this is the medical tent. You will see disgusting and gory things in here." He wiggled his fingers a bit, making Maka giggle.

"Okay, I think I can handle that. Gore never bothered me," Maka said confidently.

"Well then." Soul gave his signature lopsided grin and opened the flap to the medical tent.

* * *

 **It's Sunday where I am, but I wanted to post this. Besides, it's Monday somewhere. See you next week!**

 **Sorry about any spelling or grammatical errors.**

 **-littlecat**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The first thing Maka noticed about the medical tent was the smell. It smelled strongly of both disinfectant and the metallic scent of blood. Maka looked around and saw rows and rows of cots, some filled with injured people. There was a man in a chair writing on a clipboard and a cigarette in his mouth talking to a tall and muscular blue man with tattoos on his arms. His headband had a cracked metal plate on the front. The man in the chair was pale with grey hair and stitches on his face. Maka cocked her head to the side as she looked at the large screw protruding through the man's head. Despite the grey hair, the man looked around her papa's age.

"The blue man is Sid, he's a zombie. The one with the screw, that's doctor Stein. Sid is the tutor of the campground. He helps teach the children so that they can grow up going to some kind of school while the old academy has been taken by Medusa. He used to work there as a teacher." Soul walked in front of Maka and looking at Sid.

"That's sweet," Maka said. Soul turned towards her with a questioning look. "You know, that he decided to keep teaching. From the sound of it this place isn't in very good shape for the people living here."

"Yeah, I think it's really cool that he is teaching the kids," Soul agreed with a nod. "Well Black Star should be here somewhere."

"Black Star?" Maka asked. She hummed. That name rang a bell. "That's an interesting name."

"Yeah, I don't think that was his original name, but that's what he called himself when I met him," Soul said, scratching his head. "Anyway, his girlfriend should be here. Her name is Tsubaki."

Maka nodded and looked around the tent more. There was a partition at the very end of the tent where Maka assumed they did surgeries. In front of the partition was a tall woman with long black hair tied into a high ponytail.

"Is that Tsubaki?" Maka pointed to the tall woman. Soul turned and nodded.

"Yeah, see that blue hair on the bed?" Soul asked. Maka nodded. "That's him." Soul turned and nodded his head to the back of the tent.

Maka followed Soul through the long tent, and made sure not to stare at the injured people for too long. Some of them appeared to have fevers, while others had bloody bandages. There was one man with a splint on his leg who was breathing shallowly from pain.

"Hi Soul," said a soft voice. Maka looked up at Tsubaki. She had a beautiful and kind face, and was smiling. "Hello," she said, looking to Maka. "I'm afraid I don't think I know you."

"That would be because I just got here today," Maka responded.

"Oh I'm sorry, and you're so young," Tsubaki said said sadly.

"Oh no she isn't dead," Soul said calmly.

Tsubaki looked between Maka and Soul with wide eyes. "Does that mean…" Her eyes moved to Black Star.

"Yeah she fell down a manhole," Soul said with a chuckled.

"It's not funny Soul," Maka said, hitting his arm lightly. "Hello, I'm Maka," she said, holding out her hand.

"I'm Tsubaki," Tsubaki said shaking Maka's hand. She looked down at Black Star who was sleeping in the cot. His arm was bandaged and he had several scratches on his face and other arm.

"What happened this time?" Soul asked with a sigh, placing his hands in his pockets.

"He was too loud on the mission and his arm got cut up pretty badly. Nine stitches. He's resting now," Tsubaki said, brushing bright blue hair from the sleeping man's face. He was tan, and like Soul said, he had a star tattoo on his right shoulder. "He's so silly," she said with a small smile.

Maka knit her eyebrows together. _He looks familiar._ "Hmm…"

"Maka?" Soul said, interrupting her thoughts. Black Star grunted, and squeezed his eyes before opening them and turning his head to the side.

Smiling, he said, "Hey babe." He grunted again and sat up slowly, using his uninjured arm for leverage. Tsubaki bent down and kissed him on the cheek.

"Soul's here. He has someone from the surface with him," she said quietly.

"What." His eyes widened. He turned to look at Soul, who nodded in a greeting, then turned to face Maka. "Holy shit," he said, getting off the bed. "Holy shit," he said louder. He laughed, and swept Maka up in a hug. "Aw, it's little Maka Albarn," he exclaimed.

"Oh my god," Maka laughed. "Black Star! I knew you looked familiar. Oh, it's been so long!"

"How's Nevada?" Black Star asked, placing Maka back on the ground. Tsubaki smiled when she saw how happy Black Star was.

"Oh I moved away a couple years ago," Maka said. "I live in Seattle now. Well I mean I did. I'm here now."

"What? I used to live in Seattle," Black Star exclaimed. "Oh man, it was dreary there. Good thing I was able to brighten it up, I was such a star!"

"I bet you were," Maka said with a laugh.

"So you know each other," Soul observed.

"Yeah. I used to be Maka's best friend when were growing up," Black Star said happily. "She's like the little sister I never had."

"I'm only three months younger than you," Maka said.

"Yeah, but you're still younger," Black star said.

"It's so sweet that you guys get to meet up again," Tsubaki said. "Too bad it's in this place."

"Yeah, but this is really cool," Soul said with a grin. "I mean it would have been nicer if you guys met in Seattle," Soul started, "but this is so cool."

Maka smiled and sighed happily. She hadn't seen Black Star since she was fourteen. He had moved away when he changed foster families at the end of eighth grade, and Maka hadn't seen him since. He was the closest friend Maka had. Adjusting the cloak around her and putting her hands on her hips, she turned to Soul.

"So," she started as Soul turned towards her, "I haven't eaten for hours. Is there anything I can eat?" Maka hadn't eaten since lunch and her lunch had consisted of a blueberry scone and green tea from a locally run cafe near her house. Though the scone and tea were delicious, they only filled her up for an hour or so. Her stomach felt hollow as is grumbled from hunger and Maka laughed with embarrassment.

"Oh we can stop by the food supply on the way back to the tent," Tsubaki suggested with a kind smile. She nodded towards the exit of the tent. "Let's go."

Maka smiled and nodded. The four of them made their way to the exit of the tent. As they walked closer, Stein turned towards them and motioned for them to come over.

"Black Star, make sure to come back tomorrow so I can redress those wounds. If you don't I won't promise to not use force in bringing you back here," he said, glasses flashing. "Oh, who's this one?" he asked, turning towards Maka.

 _That's a weird way of phrasing that question._ Maka thought with a twitching brow, her emerald eyes narrowing slightly.

"I'm Maka," she stated firmly before anyone else could speak. "I am from the surface and am still human."

"Hmm…" Steim hummed. "You look familiar Maka," Stein said, standing. He walked towards Maka and bent down in front of her, looking her in the eyes and searching her face. Maka looked at the stitches running down his face, and wondered how he got them to distract herself from the invasion of personal space. "Spirit," Stein said, standing straight up.

"Spirit," Black Star mumbled with recognition on his face.

"What?" Soul asked.

"That's my papa's name," Maka said. "Do you know my papa?"

"We went to the same high school. He was a year older than me," Stein said. He then chuckled as if remembering a funny memory. Spirit and Stein had gone to the same school, and Maka vaguely recalled her papa talking about a man who wanted to "dissect" him. At the time, Maka thought he was just making up stories as an excuse to talk to his darling daughter, but now she understood her father's weariness to an extent. "Is he still the same womanizer he was in high school?"

"It's what caused his divorce," Maka said quietly, looking down at her cloak.

"I'm sorry about that," Stein said with a frown.

"Thank you," Maka said softly.

Stein waved as Maka, Soul, Tsubaki and Black Star moved towards the exit of the tent. The four of them waved back with smiles and Tsubaki promised that Black Star would return to the tent the next day.

The four of them exited the tent, Soul bumping his arm on Maka's side. Maka smiled up at him, and bumped him back. As they walked to the food supply, Black Star started excitedly talking about the mission that he and Tsubaki had gone on to get more food. He had gone to a nearby market, posing as a demon with Tsubaki, but had gotten too loud about their cause. They had managed to get away without anyone following them, but not before someone's blade had slashed his arm. Black Star continued talking even as the four collected their bread and jugs of water as well as some stew for their dinner. Black Star had started telling stories about other missions that he and Tsubaki had gone on throughout the time the group ate their dinner. With Black Star and Tsubaki's stories and Soul's commentary, Maka had the most comfortable meal with people that she had in a long time.

She smiled with content.

* * *

 **I don't think I need that disclaimer anymore, so it's gone. I also will continue to try to update regularly on Monday, but I'm posting this on a Thursday because I think that since I've been writing ahead it would be okay to post other days randomly if I feel like it. I'll post Monday. thank you for reading.**

 **Sorry about any spelling or grammatical errors.**

 **-littlecat**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The time spent in the campground for Maka was interesting to say the least. She had seen people and creatures, all fantastic in one way or another. She had learned about herbs and herbal remedies from Tsubaki, and often volunteered in the medical tent for Stein. Stein enjoyed having her around because she wasn't bothered by the blood, and she was smart and a quick learner. Every now and then she'd have to ask for his help, but the majority of the time since her volunteering, she worked independently.

Maka kept the cloak that Soul had given her, and wore it frequently. She wouldn't wear it in the medical tent in fear of getting blood or any other bodily fluid on it, but she wore it the majority of the time she spent outside of the tent. The campers had gotten used to Maka quickly, and she tried her best to not stand out too much.

Maka caught up with Black Star and despite the years they spent apart, they were still as close as they were when Black Star moved. Maka learned that Black Star had played on the basketball team and was the star player, as expected. He complained about his teachers and how they were too intimidated by his stunning presence. This, he claimed, was the reason why he usually got bad grades.

Tsubaki and Maka bonded over their similarities and the books that they had read. Tsubaki had told Maka that she moved to America from Japan when she was three and she lived in a town by a large lake. Tsubaki had died when her brother drowned her in a rage after flunking out of the same college as her when she was nineteen. He was two years older than her and felt that she was spoiled and had everything handed to her. He was upset that he was close to graduating but couldn't make it to the last year. Maka opened up to Tsubaki about her father and his affairs.

"In fact," she said one day while the girls were taking inventory of the medicine bottles, "the reason that I fell down that manhole was because I caught him on the couch with a woman I was sure he barely knew."

"Oh, that's terrible," Tsubaki said sadly. "I can't imagine what that must be like."

Soul worked with Maka in weapon training. She attempted throwing knives and decided it wasn't for her. She didn't like the thought of having small knives on her at all times outside of the tent, and she just couldn't get the hang of throwing the knives with accuracy.

"We'll find a weapon, don't worry," Soul said after Maka gave up on the knives. "You could try close combat or something with swords. That's the kind of stuff Black Star does." Seeing the look on Maka's face at the thought of training with Black Star, he chuckled. "Yeah, I bet he'd get distracted in the lessons."

"That's what I was thinking," Maka stated. "I mean he's like a brother to me and I love him, but I don't think I'd be able to learn from him."

"Well is there any weapon that you've every wanted to try?" Soul asked, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm sure I could get something from someone."

"Well I've always wanted to do archery," Maka said. "I've shot arrows before at a camp I went to for a summer. It was fun, and I wasn't too bad at it." Maka shook her head. "Plus, I can learn to make arrows."

"Yeah, we could try that," Soul said with a grin. He nodded his head in the direction of a tent. "We could ask Nygus to help us. She knows all about all kinds of weapons. She'll have something."

Maka nodded and followed Soul to the tent. Since tents don't have solid doors, Maka had gotten used to calling out before entering a tent. Soul asked if it was okay to come in, and when he got a "yes", he entered the tent, holding the tent flap open for Maka to walk in. Maka mumbled a thanks.

"Oh hello Soul and... Maka, right?" Nygus was the one in charge of the weapons on the campground because of her bluntness, honesty and knowledge of multiple weapons, she was the only one trusted with them. She also helped out in the medical tent occasionally where Maka only saw her in passing. "How can I help you two today?"

"Maka wants to try out a bow and arrow," Soul said shrugging in Maka's direction.

"A bow and arrow," Nygus repeated. "I can help you with that, but until I say so, you are not to take an arrow out and aim unless you are aiming at a target. I will instruct you until I think you are fine on your own."

"Thank you," Maka said with a smile.

"We begin tomorrow. When you come by we'll start," Nygus stated.

Maka nodded. She looked to Soul and grinned. The two then walked out of the tent and headed towards their tent. As they walked, they discussed the run that Soul was planning on going on in a couple days. He had felt that he needed to get more clothes for the four of them, Maka specifically. When Maka asked if she could join, he protested say that she was still new. It had only been a week since she had fallen down the manhole and Maka still wasn't good with a weapon. Maka was stubborn, but Soul kept saying no. Sighing in bitter defeat, Maka entered the tent.

"Oh Maka," Tsubaki called out happily. "I found some books while out on a run today." The dark-haired girl motioned to the three books sitting on the desk. "I don't know if these books were on the Surface, or if you've read them already, but I thought that it would be nice to just read anyway."

"That's really wonderful Tsubaki," Maka said as she walked to the desk. One of the books was a book she'd never heard of, and looking at the inside, she saw that one was a book of fairy tales from the world that she was currently. The other was a book of poems by Edgar Allen Poe. Maka found it fitting that his poems were in this world and smiled at the thought. The third book was _The Alchemist_ by Paulo Coelho. "I've read this book," Maka said as she pointed to _The Alchemist_ , "Is was beautiful. I recommend it if you have the time. It's a really nice book. I've read some poems by Poe, but not all." She picked up the third book. "This is a book of fairy tales from this world," she stated. "I have never read it," she said, smiling up at Tsubaki.

"Yeah, I guess I forgot that you wouldn't know those," she laughed. "I don't think I've heard any of those either."

"Well we could have bedtime stories," Soul suggested with a chuckle.

"That sounds like a great idea Soul," Tsubaki said happily.

"So where's Black Star? Is he in medical?" Soul asked.

"Yeah," Tsubaki nodded. "We got back only a few minutes before you came in the tent, and he went to get his cuts disinfected and his stitches checked on. I think that he's excited that he doesn't have to have that gauze anymore."

"Oh they're taking the gauze off?" Soul asked.

"Yeah. They're running low, so they may insist on just using fabric but I doubt that he'll accept that even though it's to prevent the cut from getting infected," Tsubaki said with a sigh.

"That sounds like Black Star," Soul mumbled. "I'm going to start a fire to warm up some water, do you want to join me?"

Tsubaki looked to Maka. The two girls nodded and smiled. Soul grinned back and the three made their way to the small fire pit they shared with the tent next to theirs. That tent housed a young man who claimed he'd be the hero that would lead the rebellion against the new queen. Maka laughed for nearly five minutes when Tsubaki told her that his name was Hero.

"How ironic," she gasped between laughs.

When the three came to the pit, they were glad to see that Hero wasn't using it. There was a small pile of chopped wood next to Hero's tent that looked fresh. _He must have just chopped some wood._ Maka thought with a small smile. _That's nice_. Tsubaki went took their jug of water and poured it in a kettle that Black Star had found on one of their more recent outings. Because of Maka's lack of clothing, she had to wear some of Tsubaki's things, and often wore Black Star and Soul's shirts though they were large on her. This caused Soul to plan an outing for clothes.

"Okay, that should only take a few minutes," Tsubaki said as she steadied the kettle over the fire. She was still in her mission clothes, and excused herself to change into more casual clothes. Soul and Maka sat by the fire and Maka took the opportunity to close her eyes and savor the peace. In this world she was up and moving the majority of the time either doing chores or learning new things both about this world and to help out around the campground.

"I think I'm going to go out tomorrow," Soul said.

"I thought you were going out in a couple of days," Maka said, opening her eyes.

"I was, but I think it would be better to get more clothes for you sooner rather than later. I'd do it today, but the sun is already setting." Soul looked at the sun as it's tired face slowly came closer and closer to the horizon. "I know that Tsubaki has gotten you a couple shirts and skirts, but I think that you should get more shorts and a coat that fits you. We're all bigger than you, so all of our clothes are too big for you. The only clothes that really fit you are the ones you fell in."

"That's really sweet Soul," Maka said. The kettle then whistled, interrupting the conversation. Maka took off her cloak, placing it on the spot she had been sitting on, and took a piece of cloth to hold the kettle's hot handle as she took it off of the fire. Tsubaki had retrieved four mugs and a jar of tea leaves so that their group could have tea. The two hadn't noticed her leave the tent to go to the food supply, which had several cabinets full of things to eat and drink with in the back. Maka poured the hot water in the mugs and placed the kettle in front of her when all of the mugs had water in them.

"Black Star said he'd be back with food," Tsubaki said as she sat down. The three of them fell into a comfortable silence only broken by the background noise of the campground and someone blowing on the tea.

"GUYS," Black Star's voice was loud and sudden. "Holy shit, you'll never guess what I heard!"

Maka jumped as her energetic friend sat between her and Tsubaki, slamming the food onto the ground. "What did you hear Black Star?" Soul asked calmly, blowing on his tea.

"When I was in medical, after Stein checked on my stitches, I overheard him and Sid talking about some important guy coming here. Or I assume he was important because they mentioned body guards. Oh man!" he exclaimed. "Isn't this exciting?"

"It is," Tsubaki said, cradling her mug in her hands. "Did you hear who this person was?"

"Yeah," Soul said. "They must be super important if they need bodyguards." He took a sip of his tea, and made a face when he realized that it was still too hot.

"I didn't hear a name, but I think I can guess who it is," Black Star said confidently with a smirk as he picked up his mug.

"Who?" Maka inquired with a look of confusion.

Black Star looked her in the eye, smirk still in place. "The god's son."

* * *

 **I hope everyone's having a great Monday!**

 **Sorry for any grammatical or spelling mistakes.**

 **-littlecat**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"The god's son?" Maka asked, putting her mug down. "I didn't know the god had a son."

"I thought Soul told you," Tsubaki said.

Soul shook his head. "I didn't tell her everything. I just summarized why we have a queen." Soul looked to Maka.

"Yeah, Soul just told me that there used to be a god that ruled this world and he was overtaken by a woman who's now queen," Maka stated. "He also said that the god was a great ruler, but that's about it."

"Well when I first came here I asked Sid about this world, and there was a god that used to rule over this world. He was a god of death and that city up the road is Death City. There's a giant skull over the entrance to the city, but it's chipped and broken now. Before the god, the rule over the city was terrible. He patched up the city and made it better," Black Star said. "The god had a first son who was a part of the god's army eventually killed his fighting partner. He did it because he was paranoid and afraid of everyone and everything. Because the death was unjust, the god beheaded his own son."

"Oh," Maka said in shock. "Oh, that's terrible."

"Yeah," Black Star nodded. "It was. He had a second son. He was better, and the god was proud of him. He was smart and talented."

"And this is the son that's coming here," Maka said. "Where has he been all this time?" Maka asked suddenly. "His people clearly are not happy with this new queen."

"Maka calm down," Soul said grabbing her shoulders. "Maka you're attracting attention."

"I don't care. This had been going on for more than a year, and you said it yourself, he's smart and talented. If he's so talented, then he'd be charging in, sword drawn ready to put up a fight! He's even a god for fucks sake." Maka was breathing heavily with anger.

"Maka when his father was killed by the new queen, he became a mature god," Tsubaki said.

"What does that mean?" Maka asked loudly. Soul's hold on her shoulders tightened. "Okay, I'm sorry," she huffed.

"Before his father died there was only one god of death. His father. He wasn't fully a god until his father died, and when he did, he became a mature god, meaning he received all of his powers," Tsubaki explained. "Before then he was considered independent, but was sort of like a demigod, with only some of the power of his father. Over time he would gain more power, and his father would die. Only when his father dies would he become fully mature, but it was supposed to take a couple of centuries for that to happen, not only nineteen years. He'd be able to connect his Lines of Sanzu, the second one is powerful, but when he did, he'd injure his father."

"He was only nineteen?" Maka asked, her anger gone. "Oh."

"Do you know when he's supposed to be here?" Soul asked, sliding his hands off of Maka's shoulders.

"I dunno," Black Star shrugged. "I'm guessing not for a while though. When they were speaking they weren't talking about where he would stay or anything, they were just talking about how he came into contact with Sid and told him he'd be coming to the campground."

"Well when will we know that he's here?" Maka asked. "You know what he looks like, right?"

Tsubaki and Black Star looked at each other and Soul sighed.

"What?" Maka looked between the three.

"Well we only know about the Lines of Sanzu," Soul said.

"What?" Maka sipped her tea, eyebrows knit together.

"They are a unique thing just for the god of death. They're either white lines or halos around the head, or breaks in the hair. The son will have three white connected lines around his hair," Tsubaki explained.

"White lines," Maka mumbled into her mug.

The four fell into silence, drinking their warm tea with thoughts of the god that would soon visit them. Maka felt nervous. This was a god. A death god. She had insulted him, basically called him incompetent, and loudly. A lot of beings had heard. What if that got back to the god? She was easy to identify. Petite, blonde, green eyes. She usually helped out in the medical tent, and everyone on the campground knew that. Maka stared hard into the empty mug clenched in her hands.

"Maka I found some elastic," Black Star said, interrupting Maka's thoughts.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that," Maka said as she looked up at her friend.

"Remember how you used to wear pigtails everyday in Nevada?" Black Star asked quietly. "I thought that it would be nice to wear pigtails again." Black Star, looked down, face fully flushed, and pulled out two circles of elastic from his pocket. "You know, to think of the good old days."

"Oh," Maka placed her mug on the ground. "That's so sweet Black Star," she said. "I didn't know you're sentimental." She scooched over to her childhood friend and took the elastic bands from him and gave him a hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Black Star said, hugging her back. After a couple of seconds he patted her back. "Okay," he said. "That's long enough."

"That was really sweet Black Star," Tsubaki said warmly.

"Yeah, that was cool," Soul said with a smile as Maka scooched back to her spot by his side.

She looked at the elastic bands in her hand and sighed. Taking one half of her hair, she tied it up with one of the elastics, and the other half with the other elastic. Sighing, she looked up and smiled widely. Tsubaki smiled and leaned into Black Star. He had a look of nostalgia on his face. Maka turned to Soul, who was grinning. Maka sighed.

"We should probably get to sleep," Maka said. "It's getting late." She got up, and nodded in the direction of their tent. "I start training tomorrow, and you," she said, pointing to Soul, "are going out tomorrow."

"To get clothes?" Tsubaki asked, as she and Black Star stood.

"Yup," Soul answered, handing Black Star the leftover water in the kettle to put out the fire. "Maka is smaller than all of us, and she needs clothes that fit her."

"That's sweet Soul," Tsubaki said, opening the tent for her friends.

Maka, Soul and Black Star walked into the tent, thanking Tsubaki as they walked in. Black Star kissed her cheek, and they held hands as they walked to the large mat on the floor. It took a few nights to get used to, but the couple shared a mat, leaving an extra mat after Maka arrived. The mat that the two shared was the largest, leaving three more smaller mats, two for Maka and Soul, leaving one.

The inside of the tent was pitch black, but by now Maka had gotten used to the layout of it. The four put their mats out as soon as the sun started to set, and they always put them out in the same position. It took a while for the group to get used to it, Maka not used to the whole tent, and the other three not used to the extra mat, but the four eventually got used to the adjusted nightly routine.

Maka stared at the ceiling of the tent, unable to fall asleep. She lied there for what felt like hours, drifting in and out of a light sleep. She couldn't keep her mind off of the _god_ that would be arriving at an unknown time. A _god_. Black Star assumed he wouldn't arrive for a while, but Maka didn't know what exactly he heard while in the medical tent. Maka opened her eyes and, seeing the pitch black darkness in front of her, she sighed.

 _I'm going to regret this_. She thought, sitting up slowly and quietly. Bundling up her blanket, Maka stopped by the desk and picked up one of the books. As she walked by Soul's mat, he grunted, and shifted. Maka froze and held her breath. Soul was the closest to the entrance of tent, and always kept his knives near him.

"Mmm Maka?" he mumbled. He sniffed and looked up at her tiredly.

"Oh, Soul," Maka whispered, brushing his hair out of his face. "You're dreaming."

"Oh, cool," he mumbled, shoving his face into his cushion.

Maka smiled and stood up. Shuffling quietly to the exit of the tent, she lifted her too-big skirt and put on her combat boots. Once she was outside, she looked at the moon. It was always a crescent, laughing. Occasionally, blood would seep from its grinning teeth. Maka sighed and looked down at her book. With the light, she could finally get a good look at the book she had picked up from the desk. It was the book of fairy tales.

"Heh," she huffed. "Of course it's the book that I've read none of." Maka wrapped the blanket around herself and settled in front of the tent. The desert got quite cold at night, though the skies were clear and Maka could see every star. She sighed in content and looked down at her book. The first story was called _The Prince and His Bird_. Maka smoothed over the page and was about to start reading it when she heard a _crack_.

Her head snapped up. Though the moon was bright and there were no clouds, there still wasn't too much light. Near Hero's tent was a short boy with dirty blond hair standing on a thin twig. He looked to be around seven, but Maka learned that you shouldn't be quick to trust in this world, even in the campground. She only trusted who her friends trusted, and she had no idea who this boy was. The boy was staring at her with wide eyes. He was dressed in a knit sweater and cargo shorts. His sneakers were dirty though were probably once a pristine white.

Maka adjusted the blanket, and tucked some of her loose hair behind her ears. As she did this, the boy's eyes flew to her hair. His already wide eyes got wider. His small hand flew to his own hair. He took a step forward. Maka closed the book, and slid it inside the tent. The boy took another step forward. Maka took the blanket off of herself and bundled it up slowly, making sure to watch the boy the whole time. The boy took another step forward. Maka slid the blanket inside the tent. The boy took another step forward. Maka felt a hand grab her own and she jumped in surprise.

"Maka?" Soul's voice quietly called out. He stuck his head out of the tent and looked at Maka. Maka kept her eyes on the boy as he took another step forward. He was now less than four feet away from her. Soul turned to see what Maka was staring at and she felt his hold on her hand tighten.

"Soul, I'm scared," she whispered.

"It's okay," he whispered back, slowly coming out of the tent more. He let go of her hand, and slid his arm around her. The boy's hands, now back at his side, clenched.

"Wait Soul," Maka said, putting her hand on his shoulder as he slid behind her. She knew that he was beginning to prepare himself for throwing her in the tent and pulling out a knife, but something was weird about the way the boy was acting.

"What," he said, leaning closer to her ear, his hand reaching into his pocket. The boy moved forward jerkily.

"Touch my arm," Maka said.

"What?" he whispered harshly.

"Get closer to me, I want to see something." Maka watched the kid. Soul shrugged and wrapped his arm fully around her. The boy inhaled sharply and started walking towards the two. "Get away, and put you hands down," Maka said quickly.

"What? Maka-"

"Just do it."

Soul sighed and dropped his arms. He backed away as best as he could in his squatting position. He put his hands in his pockets. The boy slowed. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before he dashed forward, stopping in front of Maka. His bottom lip started to tremble, and his eyes were glistening.

"Are you okay?" Maka asked him quietly. She didn't have much experience with kids, but she knew to use a gentle tone.

"Maka what are you doing?" Soul asked. Maka turned to briefly give him a look that said _shut it_.

"I think he thinks you're a threat to me," Maka said. "Soul sit next to me." The white-haired man sighed and walked over to his friend's side, plopping down with exasperation. The boy looked to Soul, his eyes narrowing. "No, no," Maka said wrapping an arm around her friend's shoulders. The boy looked back to her. "He's a friend." The boy looked between them. "Smile," she hit his arm lightly.

Soul grinned and Maka smiled. The boy looked at Soul, then at Maka. He moved towards Maka.

"Hello," she said.

The boy waved and blinked. He then turned and ran away.

* * *

 **I'm posting this now just in case I lose power with the snow that we're getting here. A new character is introduced. He's an OC and is super cute. I hope that anybody who is getting snow stays warm.**

 **Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors.**

 **-littlecat**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"What the fuck, Maka," Soul hissed, standing up.

"I couldn't sleep," she hissed back. She was standing, glaring into his eyes. "I know that I shouldn't be out here without a weapon, but I just came out here to read."

"I don't care about that as much as encouraging the boy to come over here," Soul said. "I don't know him, I've never seen him."

"I know, but he seemed like he was more worried about you hurting me than trying to hurt me himself," Maka said, crossing her arms.

"Oh, and how do you know that?" Soul inquired quietly.

"Women's intuition," she huffed as she turned and entered the tent.

* * *

Soul was gone when Maka woke up, and the sun was high in the sky. Tsubaki was getting changed behind a sheet held up by a string in the corner. The setup had been in the tent before Maka arrived, and since it had to be long enough for Tsubaki to change behind, Maka was almost totally hidden behind it. It was nice to have privacy when living with two men.

"Good morning," Maka called out.

"Good morning, Maka," Tsubaki called back, putting her hair in a ponytail.

"Where are the boys?" Maka asked, standing and stretching.

"Black Star is washing in the stream, and Soul went out to get clothes about an hour ago," Tsubaki said, pushing the cloth away like a shower curtain.

"I washed your shorts this morning. They should be dry by now," Tsubaki said with a smile. "I also have a tank top you can borrow."

"Thanks Tsubaki," Maka called as she exited the tent to get her shorts from the clothes line. She pulled them down and entered the tent again, retrieving the tank top from Tsubaki and going behind the cloth. At first, Maka didn't think it was necessary to change behind the curtain when alone with Tsubaki, but then one day she was changing behind the curtain and Black Star came running into the tent exclaiming that the kitchen was serving baked potatoes.

"Tsubaki do know any children in the campground?" Maka asked as she bundled up the clothes she changed out of. She shoved them in the laundry sack and took the string and cloth down, tucking it into one of the drawers in the dresser.

"I know some from medical, why?" Tsubaki asked, patting the spot next to her on the mat.

"Last night, I couldn't sleep so I went outside to read in the moonlight. Before I could even start, there was a boy standing by Hero's tent," Maka said, settling beside her friend.

"What did he look like?" Tsubaki asked.

"He was short and young, I'd say somewhere around seven or eight. He had dirty blond hair from what I could see," Maka said. "I don't think he speaks." Maka shook her head. "Well he didn't speak last night."

Tsubaki thought for a second and Maka took the opportunity to take her pigtails out and put her hair in a bun. Tsubaki's eyes widened and she said, "Oh! He's the little wanderer."

"The little wanderer," Maka repeated.

"Yeah, he's a little boy that wanders around the campground. 'The little wanderer' is a name that Soul gave him. Black Star's mentioned him a few times, and I've seen him once or twice, but Soul's never actually seen him. I don't think he has any parents so he just drifts around night and day," Tsubaki stated.

"I think that Soul was scared of him," Maka said. "Or cautious of him."

"Well he's a little boy that walks around freely. He hasn't gotten hurt, because I've never seen him in the medical tent, and I'm sure he isn't working for anyone as bait either," Tsubaki said. "I think that Soul may be a bit more paranoid but, the little wanderer doesn't seem too bad. I've only seen him in passing. I think that he sleeps in Nygus' tent sometimes."

"Well I have training with her today. After I go to the food supply for a quick breakfast, I'm going to start archery," Maka said, standing. She grabbed her boots and sweater. Tieing her sweater around her waist she said, "I'll stop by medical after training."

"That sounds wonderful Maka," Tsubaki said. "Oh wait," she called out. "I was wondering if after volunteering in medical, you'd go to the stream with me to bathe. I don't like going alone."

"Definitely. I'll be sweaty and it'll be nice to actually bathe instead of just washing up," Maka said with a warm smile. Tsubaki smiled back and thanked her as she exited the tent. Grabbing socks along the way, Maka walked quickly to where Nygus' tent was. When she arrived in front of the tent, she placed her boots on the ground in front of herself. She quickly brushed off her barefeet and yanked on her socks and boots. She called out, "Hello, Nygus?"

"Come in," Nygus called back.

Maka walked in the tent and waved. "Hello, I'm here for the training," she said.

Nygus was sitting at her desk, reading a book. She looked up and nodded. Standing, she picked up a bow that was leaning against her desk and motioned her hand so signal that Maka needed to follow her. Maka nodded and followed Nygus out of the tent and to a large field overlooking the campground. By a tree was a quiver full of arrows and across the field was a group of trees, all with wooden targets nailed to them. The targets looked to be about a yard in diameter and the rings were painted on in blue paint with a red bull's eye.

"This," she said holding up the bow in her hand, "is a traditional longbow. And that," she pointed to the quiver, "is a quiver with arrows in it." She took and arrow out of the quiver and positioned it to shoot with the bow. "This is the right posture," Nygus said. "I am 66 inches tall which means that my wingspan is approximately that and I have to draw the arrow back around 25 inches, or somewhere around where my chin is." She let go of the arrow and it flew across the field and into the red bull's eye.

"Woah," Maka whispered in awe.

"It's your turn now," Nygus said, handing the bow to Maka. "Do you know your dominant eye?"

"It's my left eye, though I am right handed," Maka said.

"Good that will help when you are aiming," Nygus said walking towards the targets with the quiver. "Let's get closer to begin."

Maka nodded and jogged to keep up with Nygus' quick pace.

"Okay, now position the bow, make sure the arrow is straight when you aim it, and when you're practicing, make sure no one is on the field in front of you." Nygus adjusted Maka's arms and standing position. Maka's arm was starting to shake from holding the bowstring back. "Now let go."

Maka let go of the arrow, holding her bow as steady as she could. The arrow hit the target on one of the outer rings. She sighed, glad she hit the target.

"Good job. Most people can't even get the arrow that far," Nygus said, patting Maka on the shoulder. "Again." Handing Maka another arrow, she stood back and crossed her arms.

The next few arrows were relatively in the same in the same spot, and Maka learned that she was aiming too much to the right. She took a deep breath, aimed and let go of the arrow. Maka watched as the arrow hit the intersection between the white ring around the bull's eye and the blue ring around that.

"Good job Maka!" Nygus said. "I think that that's enough for today. I've got to go out to get more medical supplies. You did great today and after some more training, I'll make sure you get your own bow."

"Thank you," Maka said happily.

"You're welcome. Be sure to collect all of the arrows. There should be seven at the moment. Just drop them off in my tent. There shouldn't be anyone in there, so don't worry about calling out or anything," Nygus responded.

Maka nodded and walked to the target with the quiver. She had shot five arrows and the majority of them were on the right half except for her second shot which was both too low and too far to the left. She collected the arrows and double checked to make sure all seven were there. Walking to the campground, Maka made sure to look for the little wanderer. When she arrived at Nygus' tent, she sighed in disappointment because he hadn't found the boy yet. Opening the tent flap, Maka placed the quiver and bow by the desk. When she turned to leave, she was surprised to see the little wanderer standing in front of the exit with a piece of paper in one hand and a piece of charcoal in the other.

"Hello," Maka said. The boy stared at her. "Were you already in here? I'm sorry I didn't see you," Maka said. The boy shook his head. Maka walked over to him and squatted down to look him in the eye. "Did you follow me in here?" Maka asked. The boy stayed silent and she took it as a yes. "What do you have there?" she asked.

The boy handed her the paper. It was homemade with rough edges. There was a drawing of a woman with two pigtails on it. Beside her was a small boy. Maka looked up at the boy. He first pointed to his hair and then to hers.

"We both have blond hair," Maka stated. The boy then pointed to the woman in the drawing and then to her. "You drew us," she said. The boy nodded. "Well thank you." She stood to leave. The boy looked up at her. "I'll put this in my tent," she said holding up the drawing.

The boy nodded and when she exited the tent, he followed her. Maka walked to her tent, the little wanderer following her the entire time.

"It's Maka, I'm coming in," Maka called to her tent before entering.

"Come in," she heard Soul's voice call out. Once she entered, the boy stood in the entrance way of the tent, holding one of the flaps. Soul stood by the desk looking at a few piles of clothes. "I got these, and I think this pile," he said pointing to the largest one, "has things that would fit you best." He looked at Maka as she walked over to the desk.

"I found the little wanderer," Maka said, holding up the drawing.

"Is that you two in the drawing?" Soul asked as Maka handed the drawing to him. There was a shuffling from the entrance way of the tent. The two looked over to see the boy glaring at Soul. "He's here?"

"He followed me. I think he thinks we're related because of our hair color," Maka responded. "I know you don't trust him, but I don't think he's a threat. Well to me at least. He doesn't seem to like you very much." Maka turned and motioned for the little wanderer to come to the desk.

He hesitated for a moment before hurrying over to her. He stood at her side and grabbed the hem of her shirt. He only came up to her waist.

"Hello," Soul said. "I'm Soul."

The boy stared at him, and shifted behind Maka.

"I'm Maka," she said down to the boy. "What is your name?" She asked. When he didn't respond, she tried, "How old are you?" He let go of her shirt and held up seven fingers. "Seven."

"Maka where did you find him?" Soul asked.

"After training with Nygus I dropped the bow and arrows off in her tent, and I think he saw me and followed me in there," Maka said. The little wanderer grabbed the hem of her shirt again, and looked up at Soul.

"How'd that go by the way?" Soul asked, putting his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"It went pretty well actually. I didn't hit the bull's eye yet, but I hit the target every time," Maka said.

"That's great. I bet soon you'll be able to hit a moving target dead on," Soul said with a grin.

"I hope," Maka said. She looked to the pile of clothes deemed as the clothes that fit her. "I like to think of myself as a fast learner. I learned the stuff for medical pretty fast." She picked up one of the pieces of clothing. It was a pleated skirt with a red plaid pattern on it. It reminded her of the skirt that she used to wear often when she was in middle school. "Oh my god," she said.

"What? Is there something wrong with it?" Soul asked, worried.

"No, it's just-" she smiled. "With the pigtails and this skirt, all I'd have to wear is a white button up and maybe a sweater vest and I'd be wearing what I always wore in middle school," she said. "I used to wear a skirt like this all the time. I love it."

"I'm glad you like it," Soul responded. The two stood in silence for a while and Maka looked at and admired the clothes in her pile. They looked to all be in her size. She especially liked the blue baseball tee that looked brand new. "I'm really glad you like the clothes Maka. I need to wash up, and I'm sure you're wanted at medical." Soul grabbed some clothes and waved as he exited the tent. Maka waved back.

"Okay," she said to the little wanderer. "I need to go to medical. Are you going to join me?" Maka asked. He nodded and followed her out of the tent. "I'm sure that Tsubaki will be happy to see you."

* * *

 **Okay so Kid is going to show up soon, don't worry. I also wanted to know what the few of you that are reading this think of it. If you've read my past stories, you'll know that I've never asked for reviews, but I'd really appreciate if you left one. Also I am so sorry about the delay. The amount of work I've had to do for school was just so large that I was too scatterbrained to update. Please forgive me!**

 **Thank you for reading. Sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors.**

 **-littlecat**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The two walked to medical, the little wanderer grabbing onto Maka's hand somewhere along the way. Maka was an only child, so she didn't have much experience with younger kids, but the little wanderer seemed pretty attached to her. Maka figured he was convinced she was a family member. As they walked in, Maka saw Tsubaki giving a man around their age medicine for what seemed to be a fever. When she stood up to return the medicine to its place on the shelf in the medicine cabinet, she saw Maka. Smiling, she waved.

"Okay, let's go," Maka said, looking down at the little wanderer.

Tsubaki noticed Maka look down, and her eyes widened when she saw the little wanderer close to Maka's side. She walked towards Maka and met her in the middle. The little wanderer looked up at Tsubaki.

"So you found him," she said softly.

"He found me," Maka responded.

Tsubaki smiled and squatted down to look the little wanderer in the eye. "Smiling, she said, "Hello. I'm Tsubaki. How are you today?"

The little wanderer nodded and wore a small smile. He waved and moved to stand in front of Maka.

"How old are you?" Tsubaki asked warmly.

He held up seven fingers.

Maka nodded. "He hasn't spoken yet," she said, squatting down and shifting to be beside Tsubaki and in front of the boy. "Do you know how to spell?" she asked. He nodded. "We still don't know your name," she said, "Will you spell it out for us if you are given something to write with?"

The boy nodded and held up his hand. Confused, Maka sat still as he placed his hand on her head. He ran his hand along the hair leading up to her bun and then dropped his hand to his side.

Tsubaki watched in confusion. The little wanderer faced her and pointed to Maka's hair and then to his own. She nodded and stood, Maka following. Smiling, she said, "How about we go outside. We can find a stick and you can spell your name in the dirt."

The three headed outside, and The little wanderer ran over to a stick on the ground in front of the tent. The two girls watched as he spelled out the name 'Eugene' in the dirt. When he was done he looked up at the two girls.

"Hello Eugene," Maka said.

Eugene waved and smiled. Tsubaki watched as he went to her side again and grabbed the hem of her shirt.

"Eugene," she said, "is Maka your family?" She looked into his eyes and noticed they were a pale shade of green. The two did look similar, though they had different facial features. Maka's nose was small and straight. Eugene's was flatter and round. The two both hand green eyes, but Maka's were more of a bottle green while Eugene had a pale minty shade. They both had blonde hair, which is what he kept pointing to. Maka was a sandy blonde and Eugene had dirty blond hair.

The boy looked up at Maka and nodded slowly.

"Oh," Maka looked down at Eugene. Holding up a piece of loose hair, she said, "Is it because our hair?" Eugene nodded and pointed to his eyes as well. "And because we both have green eyes."

"Well if I was first meeting you two, I'd think you were his sister," Tsubaki said.

Eugene nodded rapidly.

"You think I'm your sister?" Maka asked. Eugene nodded and reached into one of the pockets in his shorts. He pulled out a small photo that was worn around the edges and creased in the middle. He held it up to Tsubaki.

Looking at it, her eyes softened. "Maka," she said. She moved the photo so that Maka could see it. In the photo was a family of four. The adults both had light hair and the were smiling genuine smiles. The woman's hair was in a fancy updo with multiple twists and curls and the father had a bushy mustache and crows feet around his eyes. Between them were two children, one a little boy and the other a girl who appeared to be in her teens. The little boy was Eugene, but he looked to be about four or five. He has a small smile on his face. The girl was wearing her hair down, though it was curled on the ends. She was smiling warmly. She slightly resembled Maka.

"This is your family," she said. He nodded and looked down. "I'm sorry." He looked back up at her. "I'm not your sister. Well I'm not the girl in this picture. I can be like your sister," she said handing the picture back to Eugene. He nodded and hugged her leg.

Tsubaki smiled. "That's so sweet," she said warmly.

"Okay," Maka said. She took a deep breath and looked to Tsubaki. "We need to make more salve right?"

Tsubaki nodded. "Yes we need to make more for preventing infection."

Maka nodded and the two went to the back of the medical tent where they grew herbs for making salves and medicines. For two hours they worked at the herbs for the oils as Eugene watched them work. For the last half hour they worked, he curled up on a chair and napped. When they collected the oils they needed, the two women looked at the boy. Tsubaki giggled when Maka tried waking him up and he just looked at her fell back asleep.

"Is it okay if he sleeps in the tent with us?" Tsubaki asked quietly as Maka huffed after another failed attempt at waking him up.

"It's fine with me, but I think Soul is still paranoid that he'll try to hurt us," Maka said with a chuckle.

"I'm sure that he won't kick Eugene out. I mean he's just a kid," Tsubaki said.

Maka nodded and as she picked him up said, "Let's let him sleep on the extra mat."

Tsubaki nodded. "That sounds good." She smiled as Eugene curled up in Maka's arms. "Now let's drop him off so we can bathe. I found some lavender soap that we can use."

"That sounds fantastic Tsubaki," Maka said as the two exited the tent. "Bathing after over a week of only washing up sounds so good right now."

"I know," Tsubaki said with a sigh. "So how did training go today?"

"It went great," Maka said, hitching Eugene up higher on her hip. "I still need to work on my aim, but I was close to the bull's eye today." She shook her head. "I'm only about ten feet away from the target, but I think I'll get the hang of it."

"You're a fast learner," Tsubaki said.

"Thank you. I sure hope I pick this up fast. I know I have a long way to go because I need to able to shoot a moving target from a distance, but I think I can do this," she said with a determined look. "So any word on that special guest of ours? You were in medical for most of the day."

"I think I heard Sid talking about sleeping arrangements with Stein," Tsubaki said. "I think that means he should be here soon. Be sure to look out for a person with three stripes in their hair," she said with a wink.

Maka laughed and said, "I can't wait to tell the boys. I bet Black Star will challenge him when he arrives. He'd want to defeat a god."

"Oh that sounds like him," Tsubaki responded with a laugh. The two had arrived at the tent, and she held the flap open for Maka who was holding a still sleeping Eugene in her arms.

Soul was sitting on the desk, spinning one of his knives with one hand. He stopped and lazily looked over at the two girls. His eyes widened and he jumped off the desk when he saw the boy on Maka's arms.

"Is he sleeping?" he asked.

"Yes. Can you get out a mat for him to sleep on?" Maka asked. Tsubaki was collecting clothes and picked up the bar of soap she had mentioned. Soul took out the mats and put three in their usual position. He took out the extra and placed it next to Maka's. "Thank you," she said, placing Eugene on the mat. He curled up, and Tsubaki placed a spare blanket on the boy and a bundled up coat under his head for a pillow.

"Let's go," she said happily.

"Where are you two going?" Soul asked.

"We're going to the stream to bathe," Maka responded. "Can you watch him? Make sure he doesn't leave the tent, and Black Star doesn't wake him up when he comes back. If he wakes up, tell him I'll be back soon."

"What? I'm not a nanny," Soul said.

"You are now." Maka waved and followed Tsubaki out of the tent.

The two girls walked to the stream. When they arrived, there was no one there, much to Maka's relief. The stream was rocky and there was a small waterfall leading to a pool of steady water. The two stripped and Tsubaki assured Maka that the water was cool, but it wasn't freezing. She was glad that she was used to being nude around other people because of when she did volleyball. The years in the changing room allowed her to be comfortable around other girls.

"Fuck," Maka said as she stepped into the water. It wasn't too cold, but it was still colder than expected. It helped that the air was so hot, and when she dunked her head underwater, she felt refreshed. Tsubaki lathered up the soap in her hands and began washing her hair.

"It's not shampoo, but it's still going to wash your hair fine," she said as Maka took the soap and began the lather it in her hands. She handed the soap back to Tsubaki, who was rinsing her hair out in the pool. Maka sighed as the scent of lavender met her nose. It was nice compared to the stench of sweat and body odor that she endured every day.

"So where's Black Star?" Maka asked.

"He was at medical, but I think he's been training all day," Tsubaki responded as she washed her arms.

Maka nodded and said, "When we were still in Nevada he was really good at martial arts."

"He's really good," Tsubaki said. "He also uses knives and occasionally he'll use a sword. I use throwing knives like Soul."

"How did you decide that you wanted to use throwing knives?" Maka asked as Tsubaki handed her the soap.

"When I was little, I saw a show where a person threw knives in the circus. He'd throw knives at a person on a spinning wheel, and I thought it was amazing how he never hit the spinning person." Tsubaki smiled. "When I was little I tried throwing a butter knife at the wall, but it ended up knocking over a vase."

"Did you get in trouble?" Maka asked.

"Yes. I wasn't allowed to go on playdates for two weeks," Tsubaki laughed. "I thought it was the end of the world."

"I can imagine," Maka said with a chuckle. "How long have you been here?"

"I came here a half of a year before the new queen, so around three and a half years," Tsubaki said after a moment of hesitation.

"Was it scary when the god died?" Maka asked.

"I wasn't in Death City when it happened but it was hectic. I lived above a tea shop on the road that leads to the city." Tsubaki smiled. "I lived there with this woman, Blair." She laughed. "She loved pumpkins and we were known for our pumpkin treats."

"Where's Blair now?" Maka asked cautiously.

"She's living in a small cottage far from the city. She visits sometimes with treats, and loves to jokingly flirt with Soul." Tsubaki giggled. "It's funny how flustered he gets."

"When do you think she's going to visit? I love pumpkin pie," Maka said with a smile.

"She visits once a month. She should visit next week I think," Tsubaki said warmly.

Maka shivered, nodding and said, "I'm getting cold. Are you?"

Tsubaki nodded. "Let's get out so we can get dinner."

The two exited the pool, and dried off using towels Tsubaki borrowed from The hospital. As Tsubaki put her hair up in a ponytail, and Maka put hers up in pigtails, a woman with long dark blonde hair stepped through the trees with a basket.

"Oh thank- Patty, I found it!" she shouted behind her triumphantly. When she turned she noticed Maka and Tsubaki staring at her. "Hello." She smiled.

"Hello," Tsubaki said as Maka waved.

"Sis! I found a frog!" Another woman with a blonde bob hopped out behind her sister. "It ran away from me, but I saw it. It was green and everything!" She then saw Tsubaki and Maka. "Oh hello!"

"Hi," Maka said.

"I'm Liz," said the woman with the basket. "This is my sister Patty."

"I'm Maka," Maka said.

"I'm Tsubaki. Are you new here? I've never seen you before." Tsubaki squeezed her ponytail out more and water hit the already damp ground.

"Yeah, we just came here from another camp," Liz said as she placed the basket down.

"Welcome," Maka said. "It's really nice here. I arrived recently too."

"What camp?" Patty asked.

"Oh no, I fell from the Surface," Maka said, bundling up her clothes and towel.

"The Surface?" Liz asked.

"Yeah," Maka said. "I fell down a manhole."

"That sucks," Liz said with a frown.

"Well, you two are probably trying to bathe, so we'll give you privacy," Tsubaki said apologetically. "If you need anything, I'm in the medical tent most of the time and Maka helps out there sometimes. You can probably find us there."

"Cool, are you a nurse?" Patty asked excitedly.

"Something like that," Tsubaki responded. "I just know a lot about herbs and doctor Stein trained me."

Maka's stomach grumbled. She blushed and said, "Well I think that's our que to leave," she said. "Good bye."

"Bye!" Patty said. Her sister waved and Tsubaki and Maka made their way back to the campground.

* * *

 **Some more familiar faces! Kid will be introduced in the next chapter. I'm sorry if the beginning chapters are kind of boring. When I plotted this story out I didn't plan on the exposition being so long so there's still a few more chapters until the real "plot-y" stuff begins.**

 **As always, I want to thank you so much for reading and I'm sorry for any grammatical or spelling mistakes.**

 **-littlecat**


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

When the girls got back to the campground, everyone was talking about something. Hushed whispers were making the campground seem louder than usual.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Maka asked as the two entered the tent to drop off their dirty clothes and towels.

Tsubaki sighed. "I really don't know."

"Tsubaki!" Black Star exclaimed. "He's here!"

"What?" Maka said, surprised. "The son?"

"The son!" Black Star yelled. Soul cringed at the volume of his friend's voice. "He got here a while ago, but no one saw him. I heard Stein talking about it to Marie."

"Marie?" Maka asked Soul.

"His 'lady friend'." Soul wiggled his eyebrows, and Maka shoved his arm.

"Aw man, isn't this cool?!" Black Star yelled. "I'm pumped. What if we run into him?" Black Star continued to yell about the god's son.

Maka laughed at how excited her friend was and felt someone hug her leg. She looked down to see Eugene smiling up at her. "Hello Eugene," she said, patting his head.

"So that's his name," Soul said. He grinned said, "Have you eaten yet?" She shook her head. "Good, neither have we. Let's go down to the food supply and get dinner. Maybe we'll hear some 'hot gossip' about the god's son."

"Sound's like a plan." Maka looked down when she felt Eugene pull on her shirt. He held his arms up and opened and closed his hands. "Do you want me to pick you up?" she asked. He nodded his head and opened and closed his hands again.

"I can carry him him for you if you're too tired," Soul offered.

"No, no," Maka started, "It's fine. Eugene is it okay if I give you a piggyback ride instead of me just carrying you?" He nodded. She squatted down, and her and hopped on her back. Maka stood up, hands holding Eugene's legs. "Black Star!" she called to her friend. He stopped talking and looked to her. "Dinner, let's go."

He nodded and the group exited the tent. "Hey there bud," he said to Eugene, walking up to Maka. "How was your nap?" Maka felt Eugene nod. "Sorry I woke you up, I'm just so damn excited. The god's son is back. Cool right?" Eugene nodded again.

"How does everyone know Black Star?" Maka asked. Everyone seemed to be talking about the god's son.

"It wasn't me, if that's what you're implying," he said. "I told you, I overheard Stein and Marie talking. They were talking with other people around, so I'm guessing other people overhead it too, told their friends, and their friends told other people. You know how things like this work."

"Yeah, sorry," Maka said, hitching Eugene higher up on her back. "When did he arrive?"  
Black Star hummed, and said, "I think a bit after you and Tsubaki left to bathe. When I got to the tent, Soul and-" he paused.

"Eugene," Maka said.

"Soul and Eugene were the only ones in the tent when I got back," he shrugged.

Maka felt Eugene lean into her neck and close his eyes. "Eugene, we're getting dinner, no naps." She felt him lift his head, and then slowly lower it. She stopped walking. "Eugene, I'm setting you down so you don't sleep too much before dinner." She squatted down, and let him get off of her back. He grabbed her hand and the two walked quickly to catch up to their friends.

Soul stopped in front of the food supply and allowed Black Star and Tsubaki to go inside while he waited for Maka and Eugene to catch up. "I think I heard Black Star say 'fuck yeah chicken soup' so get pumped," Soul said sarcastically.

Maka snickered and shook her head as she led Eugene into the food supply with Soul following behind. Though it was called food supply, it was more like a small cafeteria. It was in the only stable building on the campground and Maka believed it was once a cottage. There was a kitchen in the back and a serving line where Black Star was currently loading a large bowl with soup and an eating area with several tables. Maka let go of Eugene's hand and approached the line. There was a bowl full of apples. Eugene yanked on her shirt and pointed to the bowl. He picked up an apple and made a motion like he was breaking it in half.

"Do you want to share that?" Maka asked. Eugene nodded and the two moved to where the soup was. Maka picked up a bowl for herself and looked to Eugene. "Do you want a large mug or a small bowl?" she asked. He pointed to the mug, smiling when Maka gave it to him. Maka heard a chuckle from next to her. She turned her head and saw a man with golden eyes smiling at her. He was wearing what appeared to be a black beanie. Maka could see some black hair peeking out from the back of the hat, and if they were't there, she would have assumed he was bald.

"I'm sorry, that's just really cute," the man said. "Is he yours?"

"Oh no," Maka said. "I'm like his sister. I don't have any children."

The line moved up and the man filled his bowl with soup. When Maka went to take the ladle from him, he said, "Oh, let me." He poured soup in both her bowl and Eugene's mug.

"Thank you," Maka said, smiling. The three moved to where the silverware was and the man handed Maka and Eugene each a spoon.

"You're welcome." He stared at her for a while and then said, "What's his name?"

"Eugene," Maka responded, watching as the boy started eating his soup. She took a knife and cut the apple in half, picking the seeds from one of them and handing it to Eugene who paused to put his spoon in his mug. He took a bite out of the apple and looked up at Maka with a smile.

"Excuse me," a woman said, reaching for a spoon.

"Sorry," the man said. The three moved out of the way of the silverware.

"Now earlier you said that he was like a brother, what do you mean by that," the man asked.

"Oh- um," Maka stuttered.

"Oh, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said after gulping down a spoonful of soup. "If it's too personal, it's okay not to share."

"No, it's not personal, the question just threw me off is all. It's a long story." Maka ate a spoonful of soup before saying, "I was reading outside of my tent one night, and he saw me. I resemble his sister, so I've decided to take him in. He doesn't have parents, so he lives with me now." She coughed in embarrassment. _That was an awkward way of telling the story,_ she thought to herself.

"That's really nice of you," the man said.

"Thanks," Maka said. There was a silence in which the two ate their soup and Maka finished her half of the apple. Eugene tapped Maka's waist and held up his empty mug with the spoon in it while he bit into his apple. "Oh, you're done," Maka said, swallowing another spoonful of soup. She took the mug from him, and he grabbed the hem of her shirt.

"I could take that to the kitchen for you." Maka looked up at the man while shoving the last spoonful of soup into her mouth. Eugene finished his apple and leaned against Maka's waist.

"Oh, no you don't have to," she said. "I can do it, don't worry."

"I was just offering because the little one looks tired," he said, golden eyes going to Eugene. His eyes were drooping.

"Oh," Maka said, bending down, to pick him up. She placed him on her hip, and he laid his head on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her neck. "That would be great."

The man picked up Maka's bowl and placed it in his own, placing his spoon in Maka's. "I can take that too," he said, pointing to the mug.

"Oh no, I've got it." Maka was carried her mug to the kitchen so that someone could wash it in the morning. A volunteer thanked them for their dishes and did a double take when they saw the man. She smiled and nodded. He nodded back. _Okay, that's a bit weird,_ Maka thought.

"Well it was great meeting you and Eugene," the man said.

"It was great meeting you too," Maka responded with a smile. She turned her head to look at Eugene and a flash of white hair caught her eye. Soul was waving his hand, eyes wide. When he noticed her looking at him, he waved her over urgently. " _What?"_ she mouth to him.

The man saw her and turned around to look at who she was mouthing to. When he turned, Soul jerked his hand behind his neck like he was scratching it. The man chuckled. "Friend of yours?"

"Yeah, sorry, I need to go," Maka said.

"Good night," the man said.

"Good night," she said back. She rushed to Soul and hit his arm when she was within a foot of him. "Where's the fire Soul? You looked like you were having a seizure."

"That's-" he started. The two had exited the food supply and were heading to the tent.

"I'm sorry that I got distracted, but I thought it would be rude to just leave the conversation," Maka said, cooling down. Soul huffed. "I'm sorry for interrupting you as well."

"Maka," he said, "that was him."

"Who?" Maka asked.

"The son. That was the god's son."

* * *

 **Ah, I'm late again! I would have posted this earlier, but the Gravity Falls finale was very emotional for me. I'm still recovering.**

 **Sorry about being late and about any errors.**

 **-littlecat**


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"I can't believe you met him!" Black Star yelled. "Oh man, that's amazing. You just stood there and talked to him- you ate with him." Black Star was walking around the tent, excited and happy. "I can't believe you didn't know," he said.

Maka sighed and adjusted a sleeping Eugene in her lap as she pulled on a sweatshirt. She was growing irritated. Her blue-haired friend had been freaking out about her unintentional dinner with the god's son.

"How could you tell he was the god's son?" Maka asked in an exasperated tone. She looked to Tsubaki who was sleeping on her and Black Star's mat. The tall woman had fallen asleep soon after Black Star started talking to Maka about the man with golden eyes. When Maka walked into the tent, Tsubaki was attempting to calm her hyper boyfriend down. He was practically vibrating in excitement.

"I've never seen him before," Black Star said. "I've been here for years and I've never seen him."

"There were these women that Tsubaki and I ran into by the stream," Maka said. "They said they came from another camp." She looked up at Soul. "I'm pretty sure that he just came from another camp like those girls. You don't think he's the god's son do you?"

Soul sighed. "I wouldn't know, but he could be. Did you notice how the adults in the camp looked at him, acted around him?" Soul sat down next to Maka. "It looked as if some recognized him. I'm pretty sure that he's important."

"I just don't think he's the god's son," Maka said. "If he was, wouldn't he be eating dinner with Stein and Sid? Wouldn't he be discussing plans to overthrow the queen?" Maka placed Eugene on his mat.

"Maka, he just got back, I doubt he'd want to jump into battle plans," Black Star said, sitting on his mat. He moved the oil lamp to sit between him and his friends. "At least I wouldn't."

"Yeah, Maka. Maybe he just wanted to relax for his first day back," Soul said.

"I feel like if I were the child of a god that once ruled greatly, I'd start planning as soon as I got here," Maka said surely. "I also think it's a bit weird that you guys don't know what he looked like. If no one heard about the god's son coming to the campground, then you guys wouldn't be saying this."

"Maka, so maybe that's true," Soul admitted, "but we watched you eating dinner with him. I swear his eyes glowed."

"That's just because they're gold," Maka said. "They're an interesting color, they must have caught in the light in a funny way."

"No, Maka I swear," Soul started, "when you weren't looking his eyes glowed."

"Maka I saw it," Black Star said. "When you picked Eugene up, his eyes flashed."

Maka laughed. "Black Star is this another prank? Are you trying to freak me out? I thought you stopped this in middle school." She took the elastics out of her hair. "I just don't believe you." Soul raised an eyebrow. "I won't until I see his hair. Until I see those stripes, I'm going to think of him as the kind man that helped me with my dishes."

"Okay," Black Star said, holding his hands up in fake surrender, "Okay, but when we find out that he's the god's son, I'll do my victory dance."

"Oh, not that," Maka shook her head.

"What the fuck is his victory dance?" Soul asked with a laugh.

"It's this dance that he started to do when we were in middle school. It's terrible and you should never have to witness it," Maka responded.

"Don't worry Soul," Black Star said with a grin, "you'll see it soon enough when we find out that the man she had dinner with is the god's son."

"Have you ever seen the god's son?" Maka asked.

"No-"

"Then how do you know?" Maka snapped. Black Star's eyes widened and Soul looked down and coughed. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired. Let's go to sleep."

"Maka we don't know if it's him. We just think it is." Soul patted Maka's shoulder. Black Star nodded. Soul settled into his mat and Black Star turned off the oil lamp. Maka settled Eugene into his mat and then settled into her own mat and whispered a goodnight. The boys whispered their good nights back and the three fell asleep.

* * *

Maka felt shaking. She opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times. Soul was sitting in front of her with Eugene standing behind him.

"Eugene needs to pee, but he refuses to go with me alone. You're his sister, let's go." Soul stood, and Maka followed, dragging her blanket with her. She grabbed Eugene's hand and the three exited the tent. Soul had his jacket on and Maka knew that he had at least three knives on him.

"Okay Eugene," Maka said as the three got to one of the outhouses, "I'm going to be waiting out here with Soul. When you're done, we'll wash your hands and then go back to the tent."

Eugene nodded and went into the outhouse. Soul sighed and looked at Maka with raised eyebrows. She tilted her head down and looked up at him with a raised brow. "What?" she asked. "Why are you giving me that look?"

"You're wearing your blanket in a place where you should be prepared to fight at any moment." He shook his head.

"I'm always on alert Soul," she said. "I'm a libero. I have good reflexes in case I need to run or dodge something. Soul, you're here too." She bumped his arm with her blanket-covered hand. "I trust you. And who would attack us on the campground?"

"Thanks Maka. And you may feel like you aren't likely to be attacked but this place tends to surprise people in the worst ways," Soul said as Eugene exited the outhouse. Maka took off her blanket and handed it to Soul. She picked up the small jug of water in the crate by the outhouse and a small bar of soap. "I trust you too," Soul said as Maka helped Eugene wash his hands.

"Thanks Soul," she responded. "Okay," she put the jug and bar back into the crate and stood. "Let's return to the tent." Soul nodded and gave Maka her blanket back. As the three walked back to the tent, they saw Liz and Patty coming out of a tent with a lamp on inside. The three stopped and Soul held his arm out to push Maka behind him. Maka grabbed Eugene's shoulders and moved him closer to her.

"Who are they? They're new," he said.

"That's Liz and Patty. The girls Tsubaki and I ran into by the stream," Maka responded, staying behind him.

Liz was holding a kettle and went to the firepit. Patty lit it and cheered as the flames leaped high only to be shushed by Liz. Liz put the kettle over the fire and sat by as the water warmed. Patty was drawing in the dirt with her finger as Liz watched the moon.

"I can't believe Kid wanted tea this late," she said with a huff.

"I'm a little teapot short and stout," Patty began to sing cheerfully.

"Patty, please be quiet. I don't want to wake anyone up. It's bad enough that we're up this late, no one else should be." Liz sighed and glared at the kettle.

Eugene yanked on Maka's blanked and held up his arms, opening and closing his hands. He blinked tiredly. Maka adjusted her blanket and picked him up, resting him on her hip. Soul peeked over his shoulder to glance at the two. She nodded to assure him that they were okay. Eugene soon fell asleep.

When the kettle began to whistle, Liz grabbed a cloth and huffed, "Finally. Fuck, that took long." She picked up the kettle and put out the fire. "Come on Patty, Kid'll want his stupid water when he gets back."

Soul sighed in relief as the girls went back into the tent. "Wait for a second," he said. He looked around and saw no one. "Okay let's go back to the tent." He saw Maka nod tiredly. He turned to her and held out his arms. "Let me carry him. You look like you're asleep on your feet." Maka shook her head. "Come on Maka."

"No I'm fine," she yawned. "What if someone attacks us? You're the one with the throwing knives. I'm having my second archery lesson at some point today." She looked up at the grinning moon. "Well I assume that it's early in the morning." She yawned again. "Okay let's go."

The two started towards the tent. Soul adjusted his jacket and kept looking back at Maka to make sure she was safe. When they were almost at their tent, he looked back again and was about to offer to carry Eugene again when he saw a flash of black dart behind a tent. "Shit," he said as he wrapped an arm around Maka and Eugene to keep them at his side.

"Soul," Maka whispered holding Eugene closer to her. She was wide awake now. "Soul what happened?"

"I thought I saw something." The white-haired man already had a knife out. He saw a shadow peeking out from behind a tent. "Maka," he said, holding his friend to his side. "Maka do you see that?"

Maka was staring hard at the shadow. It was holding something. "Soul," she started, "Soul, what do I do?" She hugged Eugene close to her body. "I still have Eugene. Should I run to the tent?"

"Maybe if you were alone and in the right clothes, but you're wearing Tsubaki's skirt and a baggy sweatshirt. Plus that blanket. You're also carrying a seven year old boy." Soul kept his eyes on the dark shadow. He squinted to get a better look at the shadow. "Holy shit."

"What?" Maka asked. Soul dropped his arm and grinned. "What? Soul."

He pushed her towards the direction of their tent. "I'll tell you when we get back." He looked back and pushed her lightly. "I don't think he's moving, go." Maka turned and, confused, she ran back to the tent.

When she arrived, Tsubaki and Black Star were curled up together, sleeping in their mat like when they left. She placed Eugene on his mat and put his blanket over him. She sat on her mat, wrapped up in her blanket. When Soul returned, she motioned urgently for him to sit on his mat.

"Soul what happened?" Maka asked.

"That was him," he said. "That was the son."

* * *

 **I think getting angels drunk on rose water sounds cool.**

 **Sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors.**

 **-littlecat**


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Maka sighed as arrow after arrow came closer and closer to the bull's eye. Nygus was writing something while sitting on the grass in the practice field. Maka had been shooting arrows for over an hour. She had managed to hit the edge of the bull's eye once, and each time she shot arrows, she kept getting close to the bull's eye, but not close enough. She cursed as another arrow hit the target, not hitting the bull's eye.

"Maka, I think that we should stop for the day. You're improving fast." Nygus folded her paper and stood. "Collect the arrows and quiver." Maka did as told and gave the quiver full of arrows to Nygus. Handing over the bow, she sighed. "Don't worry Maka," Nygus said. "You already got really close. It's only your second day. You'll be a master in no time, I'm sure."

Maka nodded. "Thank you Nygus." The blonde girl watched as her coach started to walk towards the camp. She took a deep breath. "Wait, Nygus," she said. Nygus turned and looked at Maka. "Black Star was telling about this rumor he heard about the god's son returning. Is that true?"

"Yes. Death the Kid is here," Nygus said with a nod. She turned and started to walk to the campground again.

Maka stood still. "Holy shit," she whispered. "Holy shit." She ran down to the campground, passing Nygus. She felt the air rushing past her, and was happy that she chose to wear a pair of shorts that Soul had given her. As she weaved through the bodies in the campground, she spotted a head of wild white hair."Soul!" she called out loudly causing the short woman next to her to flinch. Everyone turned to face Maka as she barreled into Soul.

"Maka what-" he started with wide eyes.

"Where is Black Star? Where's Tsubaki?" She was breathing hard from her run and her heart was beating hard and fast against her rib cage.

"They're in medical I think." He grabbed her shoulders to keep her in front of him. "Maka what's going on?" he asked.

"I'll tell you when we get the other two and Eugene." Maka said. As soon as Soul let go of her shoulders, she grabbed his wrist and started leading him in the direction of the medical tent.

"Eugene is with Sid," Soul responded as he stumbled from being pulled. "I don't think you can interrupt tutor sessions."

"Then I'll tell him at dinner," Maka said quickly. "I just need to tell you guys something."

Soul sighed and walked with Maka to the medical tent. He was covered in dirt and his knives were dirty with blood. He had just gotten back from an outing and trade and he was tired and in need of a good face full of cold water. He was starting to sweat again and felt grimy from the outing. As the two entered the tent, he took off his jacket and removed the bandana from his face, untying the back and shoving it in his pants pocket. Taking off his headband, he pushed his hair out of his face.

"Maka what was so important that you had to drag me here after a mission?" he asked as he used a leather cord to tie up his hair. He put his headband back on his head and crossed his arms.

Maka held up a finger and waved Black Star and Tsubaki over. "I'll tell you, but we need to go back to the tent first," she said as the couple stopped in front of her.

"What do you need to tell us, Maka?" Tsubaki asked. She had been helping Black Star with a large cut he had gotten that day from falling on a sharp rock by the stream. The blue-haired man was inspecting his bandages and looked up sharply.

"Yeah, what do you need to tell us?" he asked.

"I'll tell you when we get back," Maka said as she started walking quickly towards the exit. Her friends jogged to catch up with her and slowed as they came behind her. Soul walked to her side and sighed.

"Maka I just got back and I'm tired. Can't you just tell us?" he asked.

"Not even if you beg on your hands and knees," she said firmly, looking Soul in the eyes. She sighed and looked forward. "Oof," she said as she collided with a man dressed in black.

"I just don't see why-" the man said as he bumped into Maka. The two collided hard, as they were both walking fast. Maka started to fall, but steadied herself quickly as the man reached out to steady her. "I'm so sorry I-" he stopped and Maka looked up to look at his face. It was the man she had eaten dinner with the night before. "Hello," he breathed with a smile.

"Hello," she said back, standing straight. "Um-"

"Maka," Soul said with wide eyes darting to the pale man. The man looked at Soul and smiled politely.

"I'm sorry, I just- I need to go," Maka said quickly as she pushed past the man.

Her friends quickly followed suit. The man looked at Maka in bewilderment and she quickly walked. The three walked in silence for the rest of the walk to the tent. When they finally entered the tent, Maka began pacing. Soul took off his jacket and took out his dirty knives. He began to clean them with a cloth and glass basin of water Tsubaki poured for him. Black Star looked at Maka with raised brows and walked up to his friend. He reached out and firmly held her shoulders to stop her pacing.

"Maka what happened?" he asked.

"It's true," she said. "I asked Nygus and she said it's true."

"What's true Maka?" Tsubaki asked. She was sitting on the desk and was looking at her friend with a concerned look on her face.

"The god's son is here. His name is Death the Kid," she said. "I asked Nygus if the god's son is in the campground and she told me he was." Maka sighed. "I can't believe that he's actually here."

"Oh shit!" Soul exclaimed. "That reminds me-" He turned to Tsubaki and asked, "The god always wore a skull mask right? And a black cloak that was somewhat wispy?"

Tsubaki nodded. "Yes, the picture that Blair had showed him with a skull mask and black cloak." She looked from Soul to Maka. "Why are you asking?"

"I told you!" Soul exclaimed, pointing at Maka. He slapped the cloth he was using in the basin. "I told you we saw him last night! He was wearing that cloak and was holding that mask!" He grinned widely. "Ha!"

"Fine, you were right!" Maka exclaimed, shoving Black Star's hands off of her shoulders. "We saw Death the Kid when returning to the tent, holding his father's mask. Are you satisfied? You were right," she huffed.

"Cool," Soul smirked as he went back to cleaning his knives.

"Holy shit, so he's actually here?" Black Star asked excitedly.

"Yes," Maka sighed. "Yes, he's here." She crossed her arms and leaned back on the desk as Black Star started jumping around and punching the air in victory. He cheered and Tsubaki giggled as he flipped in pure joy.

"I was right, and the bookworm was wrong!" he exclaimed to the ceiling of the tent. He punched the air a couple more times and fist pumped. "Yes!"

"I'm sure that isn't much of a big deal, Black Star," Tsubaki said when she noticed how irritated Maka was getting.

"Tsubaki, I love you, but this is a huge deal," he said with a grin. "When we were kids, Maka was always right. I have never been right, not once." He puffed out his chest. "I was right!" He blew a raspberry and said, "I'm gonna do my victory dance!"

"No!" Maka said, pushing away from the table. "You can't because we don't know who Death the Kid is." She sighed. "We don't know what he looks like."

"I bet it's that pale dude you ate with last night," Black Star said, still grinning widely.

"Speaking of him," Soul said with a smirk. "That was super smooth, the way you dealt with bumping into him."

"Oh shush Soul," Maka said. She sat on the floor, legs extended in front of her and stared hard at her shoes. Her boots were dirty and the edges of the bottom were caked in dirt. It was quite gross, she decided, and pulled them off her feet. As she placed them next to the tent wall, she sighed. "I'm starting to believe you," she whispered.

"Oh?" Black Star said, holding his hand up to his ear as he leaned closer to her. "What was that Maka?"

"I'm starting to believe you," she said with a glare.

"Damn right you are," Black Star cheered. He fist pumped and flopped onto the floor next to Maka. "So." He grinned and Maka looked at him with a deadpan expression. "How about you go talk to this Death the Kid dude."

"Back Star, we don't even know if that man even _is_ Death the Kid," Maka sighed. "I mean, honestly he probably is, but we still don't know for sure. And how would I even get that information out of him if he is. He hasn't even told the campground yet."

"I'm going to make a suggestion," Tsubaki said slowly. "But I know that you won't like it." When no one protested, she continued. "Well his eyes flashed when Maka integrated with Eugene right? And it may be my imagination, but he seemed happy to see her when she bumped into him just now." Tsubaki started carefully. "I think that he likes her."

"What?" Maka and Black Star exclaimed at the same time.

"No way he likes me," Maka said loudly. "We've just met!"

"It's just an assumption," Tsubaki said.

"Based on what?" Black Star asked.

"He had a soft look on his eyes when watching Maka interact with Eugene. Maybe he likes how good she is with children. Maka's an attractive, kind, and smart individual. I think that he was pretty charmed by her. Maybe Maka can chat the information out of him." Tsubaki suggested with a shrug.

"I'm not flirting information out of him Tsubaki," Maka said with a laugh.

"I never said you had to flirt," Tsubaki said with a smile. "Just engage in friendly conversation."

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Soul said, setting down his clean knives.

"Yeah, and we don't even know if he likes me. He could just like kids," Maka said.

"Maybe he doesn't like you in a romantic way," Tsubaki said. "But I definitely think he likes you in some way. I'm pretty sure that besides those two girls we saw, Sid and Stein, you're the only one he talks to." Tsubaki shrugged. "It's not the nicest way to get information, but you could start a conversation with him at dinner tonight."

"That's actually not a bad idea," Black Star said. "Soul, what do you think?"

Soul sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "I guess it could work." Black Star quietly cheered and Tsubaki clapped her hands. Maka sighed. "But, I'm staying close. I'm pretty sure that he's the god's son, but what if he's just some pervert?"

"He better not be a fucking pervert," Maka muttered to herself.

"Okay, so when Eugene comes back, we'll watch for Death the Kid and Maka will 'bump' into him again," Black Star said. "Sound like a plan Maka?"

Maka glared and said, "No."

"Oh come on," Black Star said. "Please, please, please. I promise to keep an eye on you from a distance, and Soul will be with you for some of it."

"Black Star," Maka started.

"Please."

"Black Star-"

"Please."

Maka looked at her friend in frustration and disbelief. She groaned and took a deep breath. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this," Maka sighed. "But okay, I'll do it."

Black Star cheered quietly. And Maka and Soul sighed as their friend yanked Tsubaki off of the desk to dance with her in victory. The tall woman giggled and joyfully danced with him. Soul took the glass basin and exited the tent. Maka sighed and laid back on the floor of the tent. She sighed and closed her eyes to mentally prepare herself for the awkward encounter that was waiting for her during dinner.

She drifted off and dreamed of a memory from her childhood. Her father took her to a local park when they still lived in Nevada. It was a hot summer day and Maka was being pushed on the swings. She laughed as her father pushed her higher. Her hair was flying in the air around her and she closed her eyes and breathed in deep, the sunlight making her vision bright.

"Maka," a voice called.

"Papa?" she called out quietly.

"Maka wake up," the voice called.

She opened her eyes and saw Soul leaning over her. She sighed and swallowed, the lump in her throat making it hard. She had been in this world for over a week, and despite the fact that he was part of the reason that she was here, she missed her dad. She missed the cafe that she went to every weekend. She missed her room and her books. She missed indoor plumbing. She was completely and utterly homesick.

"Soul, what-" She sat up and looked around the tent. Tsubaki and Black Star were standing by the desk, looking at some clothes with Eugene. She felt the lump in her throat as she swallowed and inhaled raggedly. Jumping up, she ran to Black Star and hugged him, burying her face in his chest.

"Woah Maka," he started with a teasing tone, "I know I'm lovable but-" He cut himself off when her arms tightened around his middle. "Maka," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "Maka are you okay?"

Maka squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the memories rushing back to her about the surface. At the moment she felt that the only thing that she really knew was Black Star's presence. An old childhood friend. He reminded her of home and comfort.

"I'm just getting homesick is all," she said, releasing Black Star. "I needed a familiar presence." She smiled and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm fine," she said. "Just a bit overwhelmed."

"I'm sorry Maka," Tsubaki said sadly. "I know I got homesick when I first came here. It's so different."

"Me too," Soul said. "It's okay to be homesick. We all got that feeling."

Black Star nodded and Maka felt Eugene wrap his arms around her hips. She patted his head and felt the lump in her throat come back. She cleared her throat and pointed to the clothes Tsubaki and Black Star had been looking at.

"What's that?" she asked. Tsubaki sighed and gave Black Star an annoyed look.

"Black Star thought it would be better for you to change into a short dress." She crossed her arms and nodded towards the black clothing.

Maka picked it up and cringed. It was a low cut dress that looked form fitting and short. "Oh," was all she said. "This isn't really my taste," she said with a chuckle. "I'll just go in the clothes I'm wearing now." She placed the dress on the desk and stepped away from it.

Black Star hmmed and tilted his head to the side as he inspected Maka's appearance. "You're right, he'd like the rumpled look more."

"Black Star!" both Tsubaki and Maka scolded while Soul held his hands over Eugene's ears and laughed.

* * *

 **Rereading this to edit it is making me realize that this build up is taking a while. Things should pick up soon, I think.**

 **I'm sorry about any spelling or grammatical errors.**

 **-littlecat**


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Maka sighed. Despite her nap, she felt drained. Thinking about her life on the Surface made her nostalgic and upset. She looked at the moon bitterly. It grinned, and Maka felt as though it were mocking her. She couldn't even have the comfort of looking at the same moon as her father and friends. In an attempt to make her appearance less disheveled, she had put her hair into two even pigtails with the elastics Black Star had given her. Eugene was at her side, lightly yanking on her hand to tell her to keep walking to get dinner.

"Sorry," she said. The two continued forward and quickly caught up with Soul and the others. Maka held her head high and focused on the dinner that was awaiting her. When she walked into the food supply, everyone was chatting loudly. There was more noise than usual. Maka looked at Soul in confusion.

"What do you think everyone's talking about?" Soul asked.

Maka shrugged as said, "I have no idea." She shook her head. "I wonder what they're all talking about," Maka muttered as she moved to the food.

"Me too," Soul said.

The three got their food and watched Tsubaki and Black Star leave to go back to the tent. They all agreed that Soul would watch Maka and who they assumed was Death the Kid. Maka had to wait for the man with golden eyes to come so she could talk to him. Soul had told Eugene that if he saw the man before them, that he should just go over to him. That way, it was explained, Maka could get to the man with an excuse.

The three settled at a small empty table and began to eat their dinner of loaded potato soup.

"So I saw Hero being pushed around the other day," Maka said after blowing on a spoon of soup. "When I asked Black Star about it, he said it was normal."

"Mmm, yeah that guy gets pushed around a lot," Soul said through a spoonful of soup. "He isn't very good at much, and can't really help out on the campground, so others pick on him."

"That's sad," Maka said, swallowing some soup. She ate another spoonful and hummed in content. She felt better. She watched Eugene as he ate his soup and smiled. He was very cute, though he needed a napkin.

"Oh," Soul said suddenly. "He's here." He pointed to the place with the silverware.

Maka turned as she ate another spoonful of soup. The man was there with a bowl of soup and a spoon. Stein was talking to him. The stitched up man laughed at something, and slapped his hand on the younger man's shoulder. He then walked away with a mug of what Maka assumed was soup. The man with the golden eyes started to look around, and Maka pretended to be preoccupied with patting Eugene's head. She peeked back up at the man and saw that he was looking over. She waved.

"That was smooth," Soul said sarcastically.

"Shut it," Maka said. She looked back at the man who was still looking in her direction. She smiled sheepishly and waved him over. He nodded and started walking.

"Hello," Soul said when the man sat down at the table.

"Hello," Maka said cheerfully. The man nodded with a smile. "How was your day?"

"It was good," the man said, stirring his soup. "How about yours?"

"My day was great," Maka responded.

For a moment, no one said anything, and Soul wolfed down the rest of his soup. Maka gave him an annoyed look and he just grinned back.

"I'm stuffed," he said. "I'm going back to the tent, see ya," he said, standing. He winked and walked to the kitchen to drop off his bowl and spoon. Maka knew that he was going to hover and watch over her, but she still felt her heart beating against her ribs as she stared hard at her soup.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Maka said, looking up. "I was in a hurry to get back to my tent, sorry if I was a bit rude."

"Oh, don't worry, I understand," the man with golden eyes said with a wave of his hand.

She smiled at him, before finishing off her soup. She put her spoon in her bowl and pushed it aside before turning fully towards him. He smiled at her as she rested her chin on her hand.

"So what do you think everyone's talking about?" Maka asked. It wasn't as loud as when she first arrived, but it was still louder than usual in the food supply.

"I don't know, but it must be pretty interesting," the man said. He ate more of his soup and Maka was careful to watch his face before she spoke.

"I think everyone's talking about the god's son," she said. The man's face went blank for a split second before going back to a neutral expression. Maka almost missed the change.

"Oh?" he said, getting another spoonful of soup.

"I heard that he arrived a bit ago," Maka continued. She felt her her heart speed up. He had reacted strangely. "Isn't that cool?"

"Hmm," the man nodded.

"My friends were freaking out when they heard," Maka said with a giggle. "I had to calm Black Star down, he was so excited." She smiled. "I'm sure everyone else is too, and that's why they've been so talkative." She felt Eugene crawl into her lap from his chair. She shifted him so that he could curl up comfortably in her lap.

"Are you excited?" the man asked.

"I am," Maka said. "I haven't been here long, but the god's son sounds like a pretty big deal, especially considering the situation of everything right now."

The man nodded and swallowed his last spoonful of soup. He collected the bowls and mug and smiled. "I can take these over for you," he said.

"Thank you," Maka said quietly. She stood up slowly, and adjusted Eugene in her arms, making sure that he was still asleep. The two walked to the kitchen. "Are you excited that the god's son is back?" she asked when he placed the dirty bowls by the rest of them.

The man looked at Maka with a calculating look. He sighed and Maka raised her brows. "Let's talk outside," he said. There was a woman that was staring at them and when he saw that, he shifted nervously.

"Okay," Maka said slowly. The two walked to the exit of the food supply. When they were outside, Maka followed the man to the edge of the campsite, where a large rock sat. He jumped up on it, and helped Maka to climb up next to him, while she clenched Eugene to her chest.

"Are you cold?" the man asked. "I could lend you my jacket," he said, making to take off his jacket.

"Oh, no I'm fine," Maka said, shaking her head. "So what did you take me out here for?"

"Well you asked me about the god's son," he said, avoiding eye contact and instead looking up at the moon. "I haven't told anyone, because I wanted to come up with a plan first. I'm planning on making an announcement tomorrow." He looked back at Maka who was watching him with wide eyes. He slouched a little in nervousness. "I'm the god's son," he said slowly.

"The god's son," Maka whispered in disbelief. She shivered as a light breeze passed the two.

The man's eyes flashed and he placed his jacket over her shoulders. Holding out his hand, he said, "Hello, I'm Death the Kid."

"Maka," Maka responded as she shook his hand. She laughed lightly. "Death the Kid," she said. "Like Billy the Kid?"

"Billy?" Kid asked.

"He was a gunfighter in the old west," Maka said with a smile.

"The old west on the Surface?" Kid asked. "May father had a funny sense of humor..." he muttered to himself.

"Yes," Maka said. She got a faraway look on her face as she thought of the Surface again. She sighed and nuzzled her chin into Eugene's hair as she thought of the dream she had before dinner.

"Maka, are you alright?" Kid asked. "I- did you die recently?" he asked with a confused tone.

"No," she responded quickly. "No I fell from the Surface a while ago," Maka said as she gave Kid a reassuring smile. "I just had a dream about my dad and I'm just a bit homesick."

"I'm sorry," Kid said sitting up straight with a sympathetic look.

"Thanks," Maka said, turning her head to look Kid in the eyes. "I'm sorry about your father."

"Thank you," Kid responded softly. The two looked away from each other. Maka looked at the moon and hugged Eugene a bit tighter. She sighed in content as another breeze blew past the two. Kid looked back at Maka and smiled. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a head of light hair. He shifted a bit to look behind Maka.

"Kid?" Maka looked at Kid in confusion. "What-" she turned to see what he was looking at, as he leaned in her direction to get a better look at the man approaching them. "Oh, it's Soul."

"Soul?" Kid asked.

Maka nodded. "The man I was eating with. He's one of my friends," she said. She gave a small wave and he waved back, as he sped up his pace. Kid slid off the rock, and helped Maka off so that she wouldn't fall or drop Eugene. "Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome," Kid responded as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Hey Maka," Soul said as he jogged up to the pair. "It's getting late, I was starting to get worried." He looked at Kid. "Hello, I'm Soul. I don't think we've formally met."

"Hello Soul," Kid said. "I'm-" he paused for a heartbeat, "Kid."

"It's nice to meet you Kid," Soul said with a grin. "I'm sorry to say this but, I'm awfully tired, and I can't wait for Maka to come back for too long before just passing out."

Seeing Kid's confused look Maka explained, "We live in the same tent with two of our friends and Eugene." She hitched the boy higher up on her hip. "I suppose I can't keep you up any longer," she sighed to Soul. Turning to Kid she said, "It was wonderful talking to you Kid."

"And me you," Kid responded.

She turned slightly. "Here, take your jacket back."

Kid gently took his off of Maka's shoulders and thanked her. She nodded and gave a small wave goodbye as she and Soul walked back to their tent. The two walked for a bit before Soul started talking in a hushed voice.

"Is it him?" he asked.

Maka sighed. "I'm going to have to face Black Star's victory dance tomorrow," was all she said.

Soul did a small fist pump and grinned widely. "Told ya so," he said.

"Shut up," Maka responded, elbowing his side lightly. "You're going to hate watching him dance so don't get too cocky," she responded with a bitter tone. "It's a terrible experience." The two laughed quietly as they entered the tent. Black Star and Tsubaki were already cuddled up, asleep. Maka placed Eugene gently down on his mat and placed his blanket over him. She took out her pigtails and whispered a goodnight.

* * *

 **If you haven't seen the movie Zootopia, I strongly recommend you do. It was wonderful and funny, not to mention that it seemed to be Disney's response to current problems like sexism and racial stereotyping. You don't even need to pay attention to those underlying themes though. It's a wonderful movie regardless!**

 **Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors.**

 **-littlecat**


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"Are you ready?" Black star said as he put a hand on his hip smugly. Tsubaki, Maka and Soul sat in front of him, Maka irritated, Tsubaki excited to see her boyfriend's dance and Soul wanting to get the whole thing over with so he could get breakfast. Black Star had insisted on doing the dance as soon as he was told when he woke up. Soul regretted telling his blue-haired friend.

"Just get it over with Black Star," Maka said grudgingly.

"Ah, ah, Maka," Black Star said, waving a finger. He was wearing a huge grin and his eyes were bright with the fact that he was right and Maka had been wrong. "You have to sing along."

"Black Star," Maka said in a warning tone. "Black Star, I'm not singing the song. You sing and dance like they did in-"

"No!" Black Star interrupted. "I want Soul and Tsubaki to be surprised when they see my victory dance."

Maka scoffed. She had been woken up by Black Star's cheering, and had to calm a tired Eugene when he woke up and started to shed tears. "You don't even know if they've seen it," she said. She knew there was only a slight chance that the two _hadn't_ seen the movie Black Star's dance had come from.

"You know they've seen it," Black Star said.

"I know, I just don't want to deal with this so early in the morning. The sun has barely risen." Maka gave Black Star a pleading look.

"You're just tired because you were out late with _Death the Kid_ ," Black Star said smugly. "The god's son." He then lifted his arm and shifted his legs to get into the pose he needed to for his victory dance.

"Just do it," Maka said, ignoring his comment.

"As long as you si-ing," Black Star said in a sing-song voice. He was clearly enjoying his friend's embarrassment and was having a lot of fun teasing Maka for staying out late and talking with Kid.

"Fine, whatever, just do the dance," Maka sighed. "Okay ready? One, two, three," Maka counted off. She started to quietly sing _Jingle Bell Rock_ and Black Star moved forward four steps rhythmically, swaying his arms across his body, making sure that his hips swayed.

"Louder!" he yelled as he squatted and rolled his hips. Maka stuttered and made her voice louder as Soul started to laugh. Tsubaki was giggling behind her hand. Soul let out a loud guffaw when his friend squatted briefly to smack his thighs. "Woo!" Black Star exclaimed with a laugh as he spun, shaking his hips and moving his arms over his head. The rest of the song was spent with Maka singing slightly off key through her wide smile and Soul clutching his stomach from laughing and watching his friend do such a ridiculous dance. Tsubaki clapped when the dance was finished and Maka let out another laugh.

"The dance from _Mean Girls_ ," Tsubaki said with a giggle.

"I can't believe you memorized the whole thing," Soul said.

"In sixth grade, I had Maka over and we watched that movie. I watched that scene so many times to get Regina's part right," Black Star said with a wide grin. "I started doing the dance anytime I thought I had a great victory, and Maka grew to hate it."

"No, I think the dance is funny, but the fact that you jumped on a table in the cafeteria in eighth grade to brag that you got a C+ on that one test when I thought you got a D makes it a bit obnoxious," Maka huffed tiredly.

"Oh, Black Star," Tsubaki said as he sat next to her. "In front of everyone?"

"Yes," Maka said, putting her hair up in pigtails. "That dance is really something." Maka sighed as she remembered those two minutes of embarrassment. Not only had Black Star danced on the table, but he was horribly off-key. She smiled as the wave of nostalgia washed over her.

"You had those exact same pigtails," Black Star said. "Man, middle school was the best."

"It was," Maka responded with a content smile. She walked over to the dresser and pulled out her shorts and the plaid skirt Soul had procured for her. She pulled out a white long-sleeved shirt and walked to the corner where the sheet could be put up. "I'm changing," she announced.

"Maka I don't think they're serving breakfast for another hour or so," Tsubaki said as the girl tossed her dirty clothes on the ground.

"I'm going to get some early archery practice in before breakfast," Maka called as she pulled the shirt over her head. "Nygus is usually awake by now."

"Okay, just make sure you don't skip breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day," Soul said as Maka took the sheet down. The shirt she was wearing looked two sizes too big, and she was tucking it into the skirt, which was just long enough to cover the hem of it. "Is that my shirt?" he asked.

"Probably," Maka said. "I was feeling nostalgic and this is basically what I wore everyday in middle school."

"You owned like fifty different plaid skirts," Black Star reflected.

"I had twenty three," Maka said as she put on her socks. She pulled on her boots and looked over to the still sleeping Eugene with a warm smile. "When he wakes up tell him what I'm doing." She waved and exited the tent. "Bye," she called out before the tent flap closed.

She stretched her arms a bit while walking to Nygus' tent. When she was close, she saw Nygus walking with a clipboard in hand. She was writing something down and looked up when Maka jogged over to her.

"Oh, good morning Maka," she said.

"Good morning Nygus," Maka responded. "Would it be okay if I practiced a bit?"

"That would be fine," Nygus said. "I made a couple more arrows. They're in the quiver with the others. Just be careful."

Maka nodded. "Thank you," she called as she jogged to the older woman's tent. Once she picked up the bow and quiver, adjusting its strap on her shoulder, she jogged to the archery range.

The sun was up, though it was clearly still early morning. Besides a few retrieving water or dry laundry, there were few beings outside of their tents. The range was quiet, and empty when Maka arrived. She walked to where she usually stood when practicing and shot an arrow. It landed on the ring next to the bull's eye, just above it. Taking a deep breath, Maka shot another arrow. This one landed the left of the first, though a bit lower. Maka drew another arrow, closed one eye and aimed. Bull's eye.

Maka smiled and stepped back a foot. She shot again and watched as the arrow flew to the ring outside the bull's eye once again. It was too far to the left. She breathed in and shot again. This arrow hit the border between the ring and the bull's eye. She was getting closer. The next arrow was another bull's eye. She smiled, pulling out another arrow. This arrow hit the edge of the bull's eye. Maka concentrated and aimed. She felt the wind blow her hair and she adjusted her aim a second before she released the arrow. This arrow hit the center of the bull's eye. Maka lowered the bow and grinned.

She took several steps back and fired two more arrows. They both hit the ring around the bull's eye. Maka reached behind her for more arrows and found that the quiver was empty. After dragging her foot across the ground in front of herself, she sighed and jogged to the target to retrieve the arrows. After getting all of them back in the quiver, she jogged back to the mark she made and aimed. The first three arrows she shot were all in the ring around the bull's eye. She aimed and hit the bull's eye. Maka grinned and walked back more. She aimed carefully. Bull's eye.

"That's quite impressive," a voice called out. Maka jumped and turned, another arrow ready to be shot. When she saw Kid, who had put his hands up in mock surrender, she lowered the bow.

"Sorry," she said as she replaced the arrow in the quiver. "You scared me. Thank you."

"It's a bit early don't you think?" Kid said, walking to Maka.

"Yeah, but I was woken up early, so I figured that I could get some practice in before going to medical," Maka said, looking up at Kid.

Kid raised a brow. "Why would you need to go to medical?" he asked.

"I volunteer there," Maka said. "Tsubaki helps out there everyday and every now and then I do too." Maka smiled and started to walk towards the target. "I suppose I could use a break, why don't you find somewhere to sit. I'll join you in a bit." Kid nodded, and Maka smiled before turning to jog to the target. She retrieved the arrows and jogged to where kid was sitting on a large stone. He smiled as she placed the bow and quiver on the ground beside the rock.

"How long have you been doing archery, Maka?" Kid asked as she sat beside him.

"A bit after I fell actually," Maka responded. She rolled up the sleeves on her shirt and leaned back on her hands.

"You're very good at it considering how long it's been since you started," Kid said. He looked down at his hands and Maka noticed that he seemed tense.

"Are you okay? You seem stressed," Maka said quietly.

Kid sighed and said, "I'm just a bit nervous for today. I'm going to tell the campground that I'm here and soon after that, I need to leave."

"Why do you have to leave?" Maka inquired.

"Sid, Stein and I have come up with a plan already. I just need to recruit a small team and then we leave to take down Medusa," he responded. "My partners, or bodyguards as they like to call themselves, think we'll need more than just the three of us to take down the new queen. They agreed to keep the group small, so we don't attract attention, but I don't like the thought of taking people with me on a dangerous mission."

"Oh that must be stressful," Maka said. "And I thought applying to college was hard, here you are plotting a rebellion."

Kid laughed and smiled at the blonde. "Yeah," he sighed. "You wouldn't happen to know someone that is both competent in fights and is willing to risk their life to join me do you? I've been absent for so long, I figure more would be mad at me than those who would join me."

Maka thought for a moment. "When I first heard of what was happening here, I was mad at you too, to be honest," she said. Kid looked at her nervously. "But I figured it must be hard. The city is full of witches and shadows, or so I'm told, and this witch must have been pretty powerful to be able to take down a god. I can understand why you took a while."

"Thank you," Kid said with a soft tone.

"I do know someone though," Maka stated. "Someone who's both great at fighting and willing to risk their life." Kid raised a brow. "My friend Black Star. He and his girlfriend are both willing and wonderful fighters. I'm sure Tsubaki would join too. I can't speak for them, but I'm sure Black Star would be more than willing."

Kid chuckled, and gave Maka a smile. Maka smiled back. He looked at her a while before his expression changed to one of realization. Maka watched as his eyes searched her face and hair carefully. He reached up and gently combed his fingers through each of her pigtails.

"Perfectly symmetrical," he whispered. "You are perfectly symmetrical, has anyone ever told you that?"

"No," Maka rasped. She cleared her throat. "Besides, I think that it's biologically impossible for someone to be _perfectly_ symmetrical."

"Well you're pretty close then," Kid said softly. He had placed his hands on Maka's shoulders. He stared at her for a few seconds, then looked away. "We should get some breakfast."

Maka nodded and stood. She had a light blush on her face from how close Kid had just been and she tried to will it away. "I need to return these first," she said.

"That's fine," Kid responded.

The two walked to Nygus' tent, and returned the bow and quiver of arrows. As they walked, Maka noticed that there seemed to be dark clouds in the distance.

"Kid, do those look like rain clouds to you?" she asked. Kid looked in the direction that she was pointing to and his eyes widened.

"They are," he said. "Desert rain storms here are often violent and heavy. I wouldn't recommend being caught in one."

"Thank you for the advice," Maka said. "How soon do you think it will hit us?"

Kid hummed and thought for a moment. "I'd say we have a few minutes, the clouds look like they're moving fast." As he said this, Maka noticed a few beings hurrying to their tents, watching the quickly approaching clouds. "We should hurry," he said grabbing her wrist.

* * *

 **I don't own Mean Girls or the dance from the movie. If you haven't seen Mean Girls, then you really should. It's extremely funny.**

 **Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors.**

 **-littlecat**


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Kid and Maka both grabbed a bowl of oatmeal. Maka added honey to hers and grabbed an apple. Kid retrieved two spoons and Maka paused to stir her oatmeal before Kid was rushing her out so they could go back to their tents. The two watched the clouds, as they weaved their way through rushing bodies trying to go back to their tents. The clouds were almost over them and Maka felt the ground shake with a loud crack of thunder after the clouds lit up with electricity.

"My tent is coming up, where's yours?" Kid asked.

"Mine is in the middle of the campground," Maka responded. "Do you think I can-" the rain started. Slow at first. Maka covered her bowl, and Kid shook his head.

"Maka just stay in my tent until the rain stops," he said as the rain started to come down harder. Maka nodded, and the followed Kid as he rushed into his tent. Kid sealed the tent, and the two sat to catch their breaths. Maka heard Kid shuffling and watched as he turned on an oil lamp. There was barely any light with the thick rain clouds above them.

"How long do these things usually last?" Maka asked as she took out her pigtails. She brushed her fingers through her wet hair, and watched as Kid retrieved two towels.

"Well here, I'd say anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes," Kid said as he handed Maka a towel.

"Thanks," Maka said. She felt uneasy. The storm was really coming down. "I hope they're okay," she whispered to herself.

"Your friends have probably been in storms before," Kid said in a reassuring voice. "They're going to be fine, Maka."

"Thank you Kid," Maka said. She squeezed her hair out in the towel given to her, and looked down at her clothes. Her boots were muddy, and Soul's shirt was completely soaked through. She flushed as she realised that her bra was visible, and she draped the towel over her shoulders like a blanket and crossed her arms over her chest. Maka looked at Kid who was removing his shoes and jacket. She took off her boots and cleared her throat.

"I think there's some water in that jug," Kid said, pointing to the jug by the desk. The desk was in the corner of the tent and had two neat piles of paper on opposites sides of it.

"I'm sorry to ask, but do you have any spare clothes I could borrow?" Maka asked, getting up. She grabbed her and Kid's bowls of oatmeal placed them on the desk. "I'm soaked."

Kid nodded and reached into a chest. He pulled out neatly folded clothing and handed them to Maka. "I need to change too," he said with a smile.

"Thank you," Maka said. She took the clothes, and went to a corner of the tent. She placed the pants and shirt given to her on the ground. She kept the towel draped over her as she took her skirt off, the shorts underneath relatively dry. She took the towel on her shoulders and after removing her socks, dried her legs. Putting her hair up in a loose bun, she adjusted the towel under the shirt she was wearing. She pulled off the wet article of clothing, and picked up the shirt given to her. It was a white button up. Pulling it on, she decided that her shorts were dry enough to continue wearing.

"Are you decent?" Maka heard Kid call. She turned slightly and saw that he was facing away from her, scratching the back of his neck in a manner that Maka guessed was nervous. He had taken off his hat and Maka could see the Lines of Sanzu in his hair.

"No," she said with a small smile. "Hold on just a second." She dropped the towel and quickly pulled on the shirt. She buttoned it up quickly, used to button ups from the many years she wore them. "Okay," she said, picking up the towel and wet clothes. "Where can I put these?" she asked, raising the wet clothes.

"You can lay them out here," Kid said, motioning vaguely to the three chests. He looked at the pants still on the floor, and turned his head to not face Maka. "Wh-why aren't you wearing pants?" he asked, face flushed.

"I'm wearing shorts. They were under my skirt, and are dry," she said with a giggle. Maka picked up the pants, and gave them to Kid. She then placed her skirt and Soul's shirt one of the chests, making sure they were flat. She placed her socks beside the skirt and walked over to the desk. "Have you ever been in a sandstorm?" she asked casually as she ate her breakfast to make conversation. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked.

"I have actually," Kid responded. He picked up his own bowl and started to eat. "It was last year when I was staying in a small town. I was traveling from one to another on my way to another campground. It was terrible."

"I imagine so," Maka said. The two fell into a comfortable silence between them, and Maka found that the sound of the rain pounding down on the tent was calming. When she finished her oatmeal she picked up her apple. "Do you want some?" she asked Kid.

Kid placed his empty bowl on the desk beside Maka's. "I would love some," he said. "I have a knife you can use."

"That's good," Maka said. Kid handed Maka the small, clean knife, and she cut the apple in half. Picking the seeds out of one half, Maka leaned against the desk. "Here," she handed the half to Kid. The two began to eat their halves, and Maka decided to take a moment to look around. The chests and desk seemed to be similar to the ones in her tent. There were some bags and books on the floor, but other than that, the tent was bear. The oil lamp sat on the chest in the middle and Kid's clothes were on the chest beside that. The tent was warm and smelled faintly like vanilla.

Maka finished her apple and looked at Kid. He was slowly working on his half and seemed to be looking at the papers on the desk. Maka looked at his hair and the Lines of Sanzu. The three horizontal lines were parallel and their stark white color stood out against the pitch black of the rest of his hair. Kid looked up and Maka flushed a little at being caught staring. Lightning flashed and a crack of thunder quickly followed.

"I'm sorry, I'm just looking at your Lines of Sanzu," Maka said quietly.

"How do you know what they're called?" Kid asked.

"When my friends and I heard about you arriving, they said to look for the Lines of Sanzu. You always wore that hat to cover them and for a while, they kept bugging about how they thought you were the god's son," Maka said. Kid looked down to avoid eye contact for a moment. "They thought that about you since they saw us eating dinner. I didn't know and thought they were jumping to conclusions since you were the only new guy." Maka felt her face get warmer with a darker blush. "Until Nygus told me that you were actually here and not just a rumor. Then I figured that you really are the god's son," she said, stepping closer. Kid looked at her. "Death the Kid."

"Were your friends excited to find out that their assumptions were correct?" Kid asked quietly. The wind howled and lightning flashed.

"My friend did his victory dance that he's been doing since middle school," Maka said as thunder boomed.

"What did his victory dance look like?" Kid asked with a chuckle.

"It's a dance from a movie called _Mean Girls_. It's a funny dance. He once did it in front of all of our grade during lunch. It was quite embarrassing," Maka said.

"You knew him on the Surface?" Kid inquired with a raised brow.

"Yes, he's one of my closest friends. We met when we were little and when we both lived in Nevada," Maka said. "He moved away at the end of eighth grade, and when I fell, that was the first time I'd seen him in years. He fell too, a couple years ago actually."

"I'm sorry you had to meet here," Kid said.

"This place isn't in very good condition is it?" Maka said with a light laugh. Kid chuckled and shook his head. "But it's nice to see him again. What's really silly is that we both lived in Seattle before we fell."

"What a coincidence," Kid said.

Maka hummed in agreement. She looked down at the shirt she was wearing. It was clearly Kid's, for it was too big for her. It covered her shorts and the sleeves needed to be pushed up in order for her to have access to her hands.

"Sorry I couldn't give you a shirt that fits you better," Kid said, causing Maka to look up at him. "I'm not allowed to open Liz and Patty's trunks."

"Liz and Patty," Maka repeated.

"My 'bodyguards'," Kid said using his fingers to make quotes when he said bodyguards. "I believe you've met them."

"Yes, by the stream," Maka said nodding.

"They mentioned that after we bumped into each other," Kid said.

Maka nodded. The two fell into silence before Maka asked, "So when are you planning on telling the campground?"

Kid reached up to touch his hair. "Sometime during dinner. Until then I'll be wearing my hat."

Maka reached up and took a lock of hair between her fingers, inspecting it. "The Lines of Sanzu are really something," she said, releasing the lock. "I think that you're very symmetrical too, Kid."

"Thank you," Kid said. "These used to not wrap fully around my head. Only half of my head had them, but when my father died, they connected."

Maka nodded and gave Kid a sympathetic look. He smiled. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed, and there was a scream. Maka and Kid tensed. The scream had been right by the tent. There was another loud crack of thunder after a flash of lightning lit up the outside and Maka saw the silhouette of a person clutching their middle right beside the tent.

"Kid, there's someone outside," she whispered. There was another flash and crack moments later, and the being had moved closer to the entrance of the tent.

Kid moved Maka behind him and pulled two guns out of the desk's drawer. Maka peeked out from behind his arm as another flash of lightning revealed the person to be in front of the tent's entrance. Thunder crackled and Maka grabbed the back of Kid's shirt. She felt so useless without a weapon.

When she moved to see the entrance better, Kid stepped in front of her and hissed, "Maka, please don't move." Maka nodded and Kid looked to the entrance again.

Maka grabbed the knife which she had used to cut the apple off of of the desk and positioned her feet in a steady stance. She looked at Kid, who was focused on the entrance. He was holding his guns in a peculiar way. They were upside-down, and his pinkies were on the triggers.

"Is anyone in here?" called out a timid sounding voice. It was hard to tell the gender, but Maka thought something about it sounded off. The rain was heavy and loud. Her grip on the knife tightened as Kid lowered his arms. When his arms her at his sides, Maka grabbed his arm anxiously.

"Kid, I don't trust this," she whispered.

"Me neither," Kid said.

"Should we call back?" Maka asked.

"Hello?" the voice called again. Lightning flashed and showed their silhouette reaching out to the entrance.

"Maka," Kid said taking a step back, his eyes wide. "I think they know this is my tent. Call out."

"Hello," Maka called out in a steady voice.

"Oh, someone's in here!" the voice outside said. "I need help."

"What is wrong?" Maka asked.

"I've been injured," the being called. Maka's eyes narrowed. They were being vague, and seemed to be rushing.

"In what way?" Maka asked.

"Just let me in," the being demanded.

Maka's eyes widened. "You aren't giving me a good reason to let you into my home," she called out.

"I know he's in there," the being said. Maka watched as Kid tensed. Their voice had become higher in pitch and was starting to sound layered.

"Who? It's just me," Maka said steadily.

"I know he's in there," the being said. A flash of lightning showed their silhouette had started to blur. "The son."

"A shadow," Kid whispered. Maka's jaw clenched as thunder crackled.

"He isn't here," Maka yelled. Her grip on Kid's arm tightened.

There was a rustling by the entrance of the tent and Maka shoved Kid under the desk and threw the bags in front of him. She opened one and took a book from the floor, placing it open on the desk. She then took one of the bowls and put it in a desk drawer. She did all of these things as quickly and quietly as she could. She rushed to Kid's now damp clothes and threw them into the trunk they were placed on. Grabbing the oil lamp, she walked back to the desk and sat down on top of it.

"Maka what-" Kid bit out.

"Be quiet. If they come in here, don't let them hear you," she whispered as she placed the oil lamp on the desk.

"Okay," she heard Kid whisper back.

The entrance to the tent opened and Maka stared at the being. It was black and wispy, seemingly blurring in and out of focus. Maka felt her heart thumping against her ribs.

"I know he's here," the shadow said. "This is his tent." The shadow took a step, and Maka sat, frozen. She still had the knife. "Where is he?"

"I told you that this isn't his tent," Maka said.

"I saw him come in here," the layered voice of the shadow sounded urgent.

"Then you're mistaken," Maka said. The heavy rain was making the floor of the tent wet. Lightning flashed.

"No," the shadow said, taking a step forward. The tent flap closed. "He's here," the shadow said. It's glowing white eyes stared at Maka. It charged to the chests and threw them open. "No, no, no," it cried. Thunder cracked. "You must be hiding him somewhere. You're only wearing a shirt. That shirt's too big for you," the shadow started to walk towards Maka. It cocked its head to the side in a stiff manner and as it did, it looked as if it glitched. It's appearence blinked and for a moment, the shadow looked like a man. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, and his hair was wild and wet. Maka blinked and he was black and wispy again, no longer looking human. "Your hair is messy and you look flushed." The shadow stopped. "You aren't just a fling, the son isn't like that. You must be a lover." Maka tensed in case she needed to jump off the table. "You're decently attractive, and since you're able to hide him you must be smart."

"I told you that he's not here," Maka hissed. "My hair is messy because I've had it in a bun when I was sleeping and I'm flushed because I'm angry that you've entered my tent. I'm only wearing a shirt because these are my pajamas and it's too big because that's how I found it." She leaned away from the shadow as she felt its glowing eyes stare at her.

"You're a good liar," the shadow said.

"I'm not lying," Maka said. "And I don't even think that the son is here on the campground. There are rumors but as far as I know, they're just that; rumors."

"Then if he's not here," the shadow leaned towards Maka. "I'll come back for you after I kill him."

Maka's breath caught in her throat as she felt something brush her thigh. It felt like water in the way that it was cold and not solid, but it wan't wet. She prepared to stab the shadow, but before she could raise her arm, it darted out of the tent. Maka sat on the desk, watching the flap of the tent open and close, the wind blowing it. She blinked and, slamming the knife on the desk, pushed off of it and ran to the tent's entrance. She sealed it and stared at the water on the floor.

* * *

 **This is the chapter where you really learn what a shadow is like. A shadow is exactly like what the name implies: a shadow of what a person used to be. The majority of the time they're black and wispy, possibly appearing like a blurred image. Sometimes they'll blink into an appearance that is identical of what they looked like while they were alive. Their voices sound like they did when they were alive but usually are somewhat warped or off; whether it be that it's too high or low, or that when the shadow speaks it sound layered like many voices are speaking at the same time (like the shadow in this chapter). So that's a bit about shadows that's good for imagining more of what they're like.**

 **Sorry about the delay. I meant to post this yesterday, but I forgot. Thank you for reading and sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors.**

 **-littlecat**


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

The sound of shifting from the back of the tent startled Maka and she jumped around. Kid got out from under the desk and tucked his guns away. "Maka I'm so sorry," he said. "That must have been terrible."

"It was worse than being catcalled while walking home with a friend on my way home from school," Maka said with a forced laugh.

"I'm so sorry," Kid repeated. He looked down and Maka could see a guilty look on his face. "I'm sorry you had to do that. I knew shadows would want me dead, but I didn't know they know where the campground is."

Maka walked up to Kid and said, "Kid, the shadow didn't hurt me. They touched my leg, but otherwise nothing happened."

Kid's fists clenched and he hissed, "Maka, I was so nervous. I could just sit there and hope nothing would happen. I-"

"Kid," Maka said, grabbing Kid's face between her hands and squished his cheeks between them so that he would stop talking. "I'm fine," she said softly. "They didn't hurt me and they didn't find you. That's all that matters. Okay?"

Kid gave her an unsure look.

"Okay?" Maka asked forcibly.

Kid nodded as best he could while his face was being squished between the small woman's hands.

"Good," Maka said, taking her hands off Kid's face. She smiled and before she could put her hands back to her sides, Kid wrapped her in a hug. "Kid," Maka sighed. "I'm fine, really. I trusted that if anything really bad happened that you'd be able to protect me. You have two guns after all." She wrapped her arms loosely around his middle. "I'm just glad the shadow didn't find you," she whispered.

The rain lightened up and the noise of it hitting the tent got quieter. "I should probably take that bowl out of the drawer," Kid said. He loosened his arms, and let his hands slip to Maka's waist. "You're sure you're okay?"

"Kid, are _you_ okay?" Maka asked, her hands on his shoulders.

"I am," Kid said with a nod.

"I am too," Maka said. "I'm going to clean the entrance," Maka said as Kid dropped his hands. She smiled and picked up one of the towels that they used to dry themselves because of the rain. She mopped up the water on the tent floor and Kid took the bowl out of the desk drawer.

"I think the rain should stop soon," Kid said. He walked up to Maka and looked her over. He laughed, and covered his smile with a hand.

"What?" Maka demanded. "Why are you laughing?" she asked, smiling.

"I can understand why he would take your appearance and come to the conclusion that you're here as more than a friend," Kid said with a chuckle.

Maka laughed. She took her hair out of it's bun and brushed her fingers through her hair. "I guess I can understand too." She laughed and lifted Kid's shirt to show him her shorts. "These are my volleyball shorts. I'm not surprised you can't see them with this shirt. It's why I often wear them with skirts. Especially in seattle," she said with a giggle as she dropped the shirt.

"You played volleyball?" Kid asked.

"I was the libero for my team," Maka said proudly.

"So you have fast reflexes," Kid stated after thinking for a moment.

"Yes," Maka said. "Soul said that's a big help here."

"Soul is correct," Kid said with a smile. He made a face of realization and sighed.

"You still have to tell the campground," Maka said.

"I know." Kid pushed his bangs back and sighed. He walked over to the trunk that Maka had thrown his clothes into and pulled them out. He placed the dirty clothes on top on the trunk and put the hat on his head. Maka felt her clothes. They were still damp.

"My clothes haven't dried all the way," Maka said. "Shit there's dirt on the shirt." She brushed it with her hand, and found that it was mostly dry. She poured some of the water from a jug on the dirt over the towel she had used to mop up the water with. She scrubbed at it, until the dirt seemed almost completely gone. The rain had stopped and Maka peeked out of the tent. The ground was muddy and slick, puddles scattered here and there.

"I don't think people will be out for a while," Kid said. "The ground is usually too soft in these areas. People with either slip or get stuck if they go out immediately." Maka watched him. He still seemed stressed from the shadow. The fact that he need to announce his presence to beings that may not like that he's here because of his long absence must be pretty nerve wracking as well. Maka had a sudden thought to distract her friend and make him laugh.

"Good," Maka said. She smiled. "It would be so awkward if I had go outside like this," Maka sighed dramatically. "The scandal," she cried, putting the back of her hand to her forehead.

"Yes," Kid said after a moment, playing along. "They must never find out," he clutched his chest.

"Forbidden love!" Maka cried with a laugh.

"We mustn't!" Kid turned dramatically away from Maka.

"But, it is meant to be!" Maka said grabbing Kid's hand. She laughed and he joined her.

"My love!" he cried.

"No wait, this is wrong," Maka said, turning away from Kid and pulling a hand away so she could put it on her forehead dramatically again.

"Then why," Kid said, pulling Maka in fiercely. "Does it feel right?" He was grinning and Maka was holding in a laugh. The two of them smiled and laughed until they calmed themselves and both were breathing heavily.

"That was fun," Maka said.

"It was," Kid responded, face flushed from laughter. "Thank you, that really helped me with my stress." They released each other's hands.

Maka smiled sincerely. "You're welcome Kid. I'm glad I could help." She stretched her arms over her head and leaned backwards. She sighed and dropped her arms. Seeing Kid over at the desk, she walked to him. He was looking at the papers again.

"These have information on the academy's changes and the witch Medusa," Kid said.

"The new queen?" Maka asked.

Kid nodded. "Yes, the new queen." He shuffled the papers around and looked at what seemed to be the layout of one of the floors.

"So what's your plan?" Maka asked, leaning against the desk.

"After I gather my small group, we will go into the city disguised as demons. Liz and Patty can help those who aren't demons to fit in. There is to be a gala in the academy soon celebrating the witch's birthday. We will attend as guests and infiltrate the witch's private quarters. Liz said that she heard that the witch has a child. We don't know their gender or age but we know that they have something called black blood. This gives them the ability to harden their blood and use it as a weapon." Kid paused. "We'd need someone who doesn't need to rely on a weapon that may be useless in that situation. We'd need someone who's fast and good at close combat."

Maka hummed.

"The other thing we need to look out for are Eruka, a witch, and her partner Free. He's an escaped convict that stole the magic eye of The Grand Witch, Maba. He's immortal, the last in his clan. The duo works under Medusa and helped her rise to power." Kid showed Maka a piece of paper with a sketch of a slim woman with long, light hair. She wore a witch hat with the face of a frog on it, and a spotted dress. She had a black circles on either side of her mouth. There were notes written on the side about her abilities. "That's what she looks like. This is what Free looks like." The paper Kid handed to Maka had a sketch of a muscular man wearing a striped shirt and a jumpsuit. His left eye had a strange design on it. Like Eruka's paper, there were abilities written to the side.

"When is the gala?" Maka asked.

Kid thought for a moment and said. "It's in about a week."

"That soon?" Maka asked.

"Another reason why I need to gather people today," Kid said. "I need to get a small group together to discuss plans with."

"So when you announce your presence at dinner, will you gather your group after?" Maka asked. "Or will you gather them tomorrow?"

"I will gather them in the morning after breakfast." Kid hummed and his eyes narrowed. "I'll also have to announce that a shadow visited the campground. It might cause panic, but it also might push people into joining me to get rid of the witch Medusa."

"Yes, you could use the fact that a shadow came here to convince others that they need to join rebellion," Maka said. "But like you said, it also could, and probably will cause panic. Will you have Liz and Patty make the announcement with you?"

"They will stand near me, but won't speak unless necessary," Kid said with a nod. "Why are you asking?"

"They might make others think that you already are starting to gather a group. It just needs to be small but able, right?"

Kid nodded.

"Then showing that there are already those who are willing to follow you would be better than just standing alone," Maka stated. She put her hair in a ponytail and walked to her clothes. They seemed dry. She took the skirt and put it on, and sighed as she looked at the damp spot on Soul's shirt. "Is it okay if I continue wearing your shirt? This still hasn't dried," she said, hand on Soul's shirt.

"That's fine. Just be sure to return it," Kid responded.

Maka smiled and tucked Kid's shirt into her skirt. Rolling up her sleeves, she laughed. "This is the exact outfit I used to wear all of the time in middle school. White button up and a plaid skirt." She sighed to herself. "All I'd need now is a sweater vest, maybe a tie." She smoothed down her skirt and looked up at Kid. He was still looking over the papers.

Kid's eyebrows were drawn together and Maka could tell that he was becoming stressed again. Maka crossed her arms. There was no avoiding the stress that came with being the god's son while the world was like this. Maka understood that her friend was under a lot of pressure to lead a successful revolt against the new queen. She also knew that if this revolt failed, that Kid would be killed. A shadow had already attempted to kill him, and they had found the campground. She knew that Kid would worry about the safety of the beings living on the campground and would want to establish a team and leave as soon as possible.

Maka rubbed her arm as she thought about the little time that Kid had to prepare a group and get to the city. The group that Kid planned on assembling would take one or two days to gather and inform, and they would have to spend several days in the city. Maka walked back to the desk and tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear.

"How long would it take to get there?" she asked softly.

Kid looked up from the papers and thought for a moment. "I'd say around four hours to get to the area around the academy."

"And you'd need one or two days to prepare your group," Maka muttered. "If the the journey there would take a couple hours, considering it's in the center of the city. then you'd have a few days more to prepare in the city for the gala. I'm sure you'd have to either make or find clothes for the event, and everyone would have to take a proper bath." She hummed as she thought. "Though I'm sure that people may have clothes they could just clean and stitch up a bit."

Kid nodded and hummed. "You're correct."

"I'm sure you've also considered a place to stay when you get to the city," Maka said, leaning against the desk. She picked up a piece of paper that looked to be a map on the city. "Somewhere with running water to bathe in. You'll need money for rent. Food is also important. Not to mention you would need a medic," Maka mumbled to herself as she stared at the map. "Sorry, I'm just talking to myself," she said, looking up.

"No, it's fine," Kid said with a smile. "You've put a lot more consideration into this in the past few minutes than my partners have over the past couple of weeks."

"I'm sure that your partners must have contributed to this and thought about the plan," Maka said with a light laugh. She placed the map back on the desk. "They seemed to of retrieved information already."

"You'd be surprised," Kid said.

Maka smiled. She glanced at the oil lamp. "We probably don't need this anymore," she said. "The clouds have passed."

Kid nodded and turned it off. "Speaking of, it should be safe enough to walk with good shoes outside," he said, turning away from the desk.

"Kid!" a voice called. Maka turned to face where it came from. There was some rustling from the entrance of the tent, then it was opened, Liz bursting through. She was breathing heavily, showing that she had been running to the tent. "Oh thank god," she said, relieved. "Patty he's in here."

"Hello Liz," Kid greeted. "Where did you and Patty stay during the storm?" he asked.

Patty came into the tent and gave a grin. "Sis and I stayed in the medical tent with Stein!" she exclaimed. She smiled and looked to the desk. When she noticed Maka her eyes widened. "Oh! You were by the stream," she said.

"Yes," Maka said. "Kid let me stay here. My tent's farther in and it had already started raining when we got here."

"Well it's a good thing you didn't get caught in the storm," Liz said, peeking outside. "It was terrible."

"Speaking of terrible," Kid said. "A shadow visited the tent."

* * *

 **Oh my, it's gotten late. I almost forgot to post this. I'm re-reading a lot of things and I was so caught up in the fandom I'm revisiting that I almost forgot to post this. Anyway, now we know the plan! Yay!**

 **Sorry for any mistakes made in this chapter.**

 **\- littlecat**


	16. Chapter 15

**Just a warning, there are stitches mentioned in this chapter for those of you who get queasy with that stuff. They will be mentioned toward end of this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

"A shadow," Liz whispered. She had a far-away look in her eyes for a moment. "It came inside the tent?"

"Yes, if it weren't for Maka's quick thinking, I could be dead or injured. It came with the intent to kill. We need to start soon," Kid said in a serious tone. "The shadow knows where we are. They know where the campground is."

"When are you planning on announcing?" Liz asked.

"Tonight during dinner," Kid said. "I'll start gathering tomorrow. That's also when we can begin to inform. Remember that we can't recruit too many people."

"Ugh, I doubt that many will volunteer," Liz grumbled.

"Oh sis, don't be such a pessimist," Patty giggled. "I'm sure that people will look past the fact that we haven't done anything for a while."

Maka saw Kid tense, and she watched as his face went blank. Furrowing her brow, she stepped next to him.

"Are these your clothes?" Liz asked when she saw the socks and shirt on the chest.

"Yeah," Maka said, looking at the clothes. "They were drying, but I have to wash the shirt so Kid let me borrow his shirt for the time being." She adjusted the collar of the shirt to show Liz how large it was on her frame.

Liz nodded and Patty giggled. Maka went over to the socks and pulled them on. She peeked outside and saw that beings were already starting to walk on the squishy ground. It was still muddy, but the weather had done a complete 180 and it was now hot. The air wasn't humid, but it wasn't dry either. Maka figured that the ground would be virtually dry by night time. It was only late morning, she figured that she could work in the medical tent for the rest of the day.

"I think I'm going to to my tent to check on my friends," she said, as she walked to her boots. She pulled them on and tied the laces so that they fit snugly around her calves and ankles. "Otherwise, if you need me, I'll probably be in medical for the rest of the day." After she folded up Soul's shirt and tucked it under her arm, she smiled and waved to the three. "Good luck."

"Bye bye!" Patty called happily. The other two just smiled and waved.

Maka smiled and made her way to her tent. The ground was still wet, and her boots squished in the ground. She had to be careful not to trip or slip because of both the white shirt she was holding, and the white shirt that she was wearing. She grinned when her tent came into view. And didn't even bother announcing that she was coming in.

"Hey Maka!" Black Star greeted.

Soul looked up up from where he was sitting. "Yo."

"Hello. Would it be safe to guess that Tsubaki is in medical?" Maka asked, taking off her muddy boots. Though she knew she had to put them back on soon, she didn't want to track mud further into the tent than necessary.

"Yeah, she's been in there since a bit after you left. She went straight there from food supply. Eugene went with her," Black Star said.

Maka nodded and stuffed Soul's shirt into the laundry sack.

"Whose shirt is that?" Soul asked.

"Kid's, yours got some dirt on it. I managed to get most of it off, but it needs to be washed," Maka said. "He let me borrow it, but we'll need to add it to the clothes that we wash."

Black Star smirked. "Did you stay with him through the storm?" he asked smugly.

"Yes," Maka said. "But by your tone I can guess that you think something happened between us. Nothing did. Though," she hummed. "There was an incident."

"Incident?!" the boys exclaimed in unison.

Hearing their tone Maka sighed dramatically. "I've got to head over to medical, but you'll hear about it tonight at dinner," Maka said with a wink. She pulled on her boots, strapped them up tight, and walked out of the tent. "Good bye boys!" she called out.

Medical had more beings than usual, most hurt because of the slippery ground. As soon as Maka entered the tent, Stein directed her to a cot to fix up a sprained wrist. The boy sitting on the cot looked as if he was holding back tears. Maka thought he looked around eleven or twelve. She smiled kindly at him and gave him a splint for his wrist.

"Just make sure not to jolt this around too much and the swelling will go down in a couple of days. It doesn't seem like a major sprain, but if it continues to hurt after three or so days make sure to come back, okay?" she asked softly.

The boy nodded and thanked her. He hopped off of the cot and Maka stood from her kneeling position.

"Be careful. It's still pretty muddy outside," she cautioned. The boy nodded and gave her a shy smile. She wiped her hands with a handkerchief Stein always gave her when she arrived and started to look around the tent for Tsubaki.

"Ah- miss," a man's voice said. Maka turned towards the voice and saw a man that was limping towards the cot. "You're one of the medics right?"

"Oh! Yes," she tucked the handkerchief in the pocket of the shirt she was wearing and jogged to help the man. "I'm sorry, I was a bit distracted."

"It's no problem," the man said. He settled on the cot and sighed in relief.

Maka inspected the man's ankle. It was swollen and red. When she moved it, sometimes the man grunted in pain. "It appears that you have a twisted ankle." She huffed as she prepared the man's splint. "Too bad we don't have ice packs. With the ground being slippery like it is, there's going to be a lot of twisted and sprained ankles," she mumbled to herself.

The man chuckled. He smiled down at the blonde girl.

"Okay," Maka said. "Sir, please lay back, I'll be right back with something that you can rest your injured ankle on. You need to keep it elevated." The man did as he was told and waited patiently as Maka retrieved a spare pillow for him to rest his ankle on. Maka got a good look at the man. He appeared to be in his mid twenties and had his long hair in a small bun.

"Thank you," the man said. Maka nodded and smiled politely as she continued to look around the tent for her friends. The man's eyes flickered up and down her frame. "Do I know you from somewhere?" the man asked.

Maka faced him once again and shrugged. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know you."

The man looked confused. "Aren't you apart of the Wilhelm family?"

"I'm afraid not," Maka said.

"But you look just like her," the man said quietly. "You- your brother." He was looking beyond Maka's shoulder.

Maka looked behind her. Eugene was jogging over with Tsubaki right behind him. Maka squatted to pick him up as he got to her. "Eugene isn't my biological brother," she said. "I'm Maka Albarn," she said to the man.

The man nodded and laid his head back on the cot. "I'm Kel Halle."

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Halle," Maka said. She turned to her friend. "Hello Tsubaki."

"Hello Maka," she greeted. "Oh, is that a different shirt? I thought you were wearing Soul's."

"I was. I got caught in the beginning of the rain and Kid let me stay in his tent. This is his shirt. He's letting me borrow it because Soul's got a bit dirty," she explained quietly. "I have to tell you what happened." Maka's eyes lit up. "Oh, Tsubaki, Black Star is going to be so excited."

"About what?" Tsubaki inquired.

"I can't tell you here, but Kid will be making an announcement later," Maka said in a hushed, though excited, tone. She just knew her friend was going to jump at the chance to take down Medusa.

"Oh, it must be important then," Tsubaki said with a smile.

"Girls!" Stein called. "You're here to help, not socialize."

"Sorry Dr. Stein!" Maka and Tsubaki called out to the doctor in unision. They looked at each other and smiled.

Maka set Eugene back down and he stuck to her side as she went about her tasks. She treated a number of injured ankles because of the mud and once again cursed the fact that they had no ice to reduce swelling. Other than the large amount of injured ankles, it was more or less a normal day in medical complete with some creep hitting on Tsubaki and Maka having to tell them off.

During her lunch break, she spoke with Eugene, who communicated back with various hand gestures and nods or shakes of the head. She learned that he was a member of the Wilhelm family and that Kel knew their family from the academy. Both of their families were large donors, though the keb wasn't exactly need considering the wealth of the Death family already.

"Okay," Maka said, approaching Kel's cot with a smile. "How's that ankle feeling?" she asked.

"It still hurts," Kel responded tiredly.

"That's to be expected," Maka sighed. "With no ice, we can't do anything about the swelling." She smiled. "It'll heal in a few days, and once the ground outside becomes more solid, you can move around with the aid of crutches."

"That's good," Kel said. He sounded exhausted.

"You should probably sleep," Maka stated.

"I just have a lot on my mind right now," Kel said. "Have you heard that rumor about the Death kid being here?" he asked.

Maka felt her heart skip a beat as she thought of the shadow that visited that morning. "Yeah, crazy right," she said with a forced laugh. "It's a bit exciting though. He must be here to take down Medusa."

Kel hummed. "I'm not quite happy with the Death family," he stated. "Lord Death had been killed because he grew soft and his son has been missing for years. Every now and then you'd hear of him showing up in towns and other campgrounds, but he never did anything. So who's to say he's going to do anything now?"

Maka thought for a moment. "Well, this camp in closest to the city. And wouldn't it have taken him a while to return from where his meeting was?"

"That's what I thought for the first year of his absence," Kel said. "But the last two years I just started to grow a grudge against him. He had two years to attack, but he hasn't done anything."

Maka sighed. "Perhaps he was gathering information about his enemy. I was told that she used to work in the academy. Obviously she was working with a facade in place, so I doubt _actually_ knew anything about her. He probably wanted to learn more about her and her defenses before he just jumped right into battle," she said, brushing some loose hair behind her ear.

Kel thought for a moment and sighed. "Maybe you're right," he muttered. "But I'm still going to hold a grudge and seethe for a bit," he said with a chuckle. "It's just the way that I am."

Maka nodded and smiled. She turned to the entrance of the tent. Stein had gone out to get more tobacco and paper for his cigarettes. She idly wondered where he got the tobacco when a familiar face popped their head into the tent. Kid stepped through and looked around, a stressed look on his face. Maka started to walk towards him, Eugene following her while grabbing onto the hem of her skirt.

"Hey," she said when he saw her. He waved her over and she started to walk faster, grabbing Eugene's hand. "What are you doing here? Are you injured?"

"No, I'm quite fine," he said quietly, pulling her towards Stein's desk. "I'm just here to destress."

Maka smiled and said, "Aw that's sweet that you'd come to the place with sick and injured people just to see me." She picked Eugene up. "I can afford to take a small break," she said. She furrowed her brow when she noticed that Kid was facing away from the people in the tent.

"Good, because I was hoping to speak to you about tonight," Kid stated. "I was hoping that after the crowed stops booing and throwing stuff at me that you'd join me in going to an bazaar that's going on in the outskirts of the city. There won't be any witches and it would keep my mind off of the crowd and I could get some shopping in."

"I would love to join you," Maka affirmed. "We've been needing more soap. Black Star refused to use the lavender Tsubaki and I use and he and Soul just ran out of theirs. Soul's started to use the lavender, but Black Star…" She made a disgusted face and Kid looked at Eugene as the boy pinched his nose and shook his head. "Will anyone be joining us?" she inquired.

"I asked Liz and Patty, but they said that they heard of a hot spring nearby and wanted to go there instead." Kid sighed before saying, "I was going to invite you anyway, planning of having a small group go out, but I guess it's just us."

"Well it's pretty tame right now. I'm just checking up on a few people with injured ankles, but you are free to hover," Maka said as she set Eugene on the floor. He started to play with the hem of Maka's skirt.

Maka nodded to tell Kid to follow her in an unspoken way. He nodded and followed her to various cots and watched as she checked up on the beings there. One of them knew her by name. He was a kid around the age of twelve and he seemed to have many scrapes and bruises. His ankle was swollen and there was a splint on it.

Tsubaki approached the three and said that she was taking off for the day to rest. She had some blood on her hands and arms, and said that she was going to bathe while the sun was still up. When asked, she said that the blood was because she had to remove a stone from someone's leg. They had fallen on it and it had lodged itself in their calf. Though the rock wasn't that large, there was still a lot of blood when it was removed.

"Five stitches," she sighed. "Are you sure that you'll be okay with just a few other volunteers?" she asked. When Maka nodded, she waved good bye and walked out of the tent.

"Have you ever given someone stitches?" Kid asked.

"Yes," Maka said. "The first time I did it, I was so nervous that I'd mess up somehow, but I'm fine with it now." The two sat on an empty cot, and Eugene crawled on Maka's lap.

"About the shopping trip," Kid started. "It will be taking place in the dark. You are okay with this."

"Yes, I'm fine with it," Maka reassured. "Though I don't have any keb." She thought about the crumpled up five dollar bill and spare coins she had the day she fell. They were in her sweater's pocket and had been since she fell.

"That's fine," Kid said. "If you're just buying soap, I should have no trouble paying for you."

"Oh no, you don't need to do that," Maka said. "Really."

"Think of it as a gift. The gift of soap so that your friend will start bathing again," Kid chuckled.

"Thank you," Maka sighed.

* * *

 **Hey, so I'm posting this now because I won't be able to post on Monday. There's a lot going on this weekend, and I know I'll be too tired to do anything after school on Monday. Also, fun fact: the Wilhelm scream is a sound effect that's been used in over 200 movies and TV show episodes.**

 **As always, thank you so much for reading, and sorry for any mistakes in the chapter.**

 **\- littlecat**


	17. Chapter 16

**EDIT 4/17/16: I forgot to mention that, like the last chapter, anyone who is disturbed by stitches needs to know that stitches are mentioned and that Maka gives stitches to someone in the beginning of this chapter. Sorry for forgetting to write this warning last week.**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

There was a commotion at the entrance of the tent. Kid and Maka watched as a man burst through. There was another man who he was shoving into the tent. His arm was bleeding heavily but despite this, he seemed to be shoving his friend away.

"I'm fine," the bleeding man exclaimed.

Maka stood quickly, Eugene hopping on the floor first. Kid stood and watched as the blonde woman quickly walked over to the man to aid him. He felt a tug on his hand and looked down to see Eugene reaching up. He paused before lowering himself so the boy could hop into his back. Kid watched as the man who wasn't bleeding shoved his bleeding friend to a cot.

"What happened?" he heard Maka ask. She took out a small bowl and a cloth.

"We were out to trade when some guys didn't do their part of the deal. Dumb ass over here decided that it would be okay to start a fight. Miss, these guys were fucking huge," the man exclaimed.

Maka nodded and cursed under her breath. "Kid," she called out to her friend. "Get some water and put it in this bowl."

Kid nodded and grabbed a jug marked _CLEAN_. He quickly filled the bowl as Maka ran to get sutures and disinfectant. The man on the cot continued to claim that he was fine while his arm continued to bleed. Maka ran back and tied a handkerchief around her neck.

"Well hello, _nurse_ ," the bleeding man said when he saw the blond woman.

Maka rolled her eyes and said, "Sir, you are bleeding, and as much as I love references to old cartoons, you need help. Kid, could you please start cleaning his arm."

Kid nodded and lowered himself to allow Eugene to slide to the floor. The boy hovered by the foot of the cot as Kid picked up the damp cloth from the bowl. He started to clean the man's arm cautiously. He wiped the blood away from the wound and stepped aside as Maka approached the man's arm with a cloth with disinfectant on it.

"This will hurt," she warned. The man shrugged as she handed him a rolled up piece of cloth to bite. She started to disinfect the wound and the man groaned in pain.

"Hydrogen peroxide," Kid breathed.

"Whatever it is, it hurts like a fucking bitch," the man bit out, voice muffled by the cloth. His friend was chewing on his nails nervously.

"Okay," Maka said. She took out a suture and giggled. "I find it funny that we were talking about stitching earlier," she said to Kid. She pulled the handkerchief around her neck up to cover her nose and mouth. "This will, as you so eloquently put it, 'hurt like a fucking bitch'," she warned the man.

Kid watched, fascinated, as Maka gave the man seven stitches. She was careful, and her hands were steady. On the third stitch, Eugene came up to him and hid his face in Kid's leg. He looked down and picked the small boy up. Kid stared at the top of the boy's head and thought about how often he probably stood by while Maka treated the injured.

When she was done, Maka took some bandages and wrapped the man's arm up, telling him to not use it for a while.

"Thanks nurse," he said, spitting out the cloth. Maka picked up the spit-drenched cloth and dropped it in the bowl of water. She took the bowl and set it aside. Kid looked as she looked down at her hands. Her fingers were covered in blood but, he noticed, she was careful to not get any on his shirt. He smiled softly at that thought.

"You're welcome," Maka said, pulling the handkerchief off of her face. "Just be careful with that arm and come back here every now and then to have those checked on and to replace the bandages." She untied it and pulled it off her neck

The man hummed and stared at Maka with a smirk. "You're gorgeous ya know, nurse."

"Thank you," Maka said, face flushed.

"And so small," he purred. "I could just fit you in my pocket."

Maka laughed nervously. She looked at Kid when he snickered and did a double take when she saw that he was holding Eugene. She smiled at him and looked back at the man. He was starting to stand. He started to reach out to Maka's shoulder.

She flinched away when she saw the blood on his hand. It must have been from the wound before she stitched it up. She stood there in silence, her face getting red. "Ah- sorry," she said when she caught his surprised look. "This isn't my shirt, I'm borrowing it. It can't get dirty."

He furrowed his brow. And his friend gave her a funny look.

"Uh- well," she stuttered. She glanced at Kid for a second. "It's my boyfriend's shirt. He's a bit of a neat freak. Even if I got his shirt dirty, I don't think he'd say anything, but it's the principle." She looked to Kid who looked like he was trying to hold back a smile. "I've got to wash up," she announced, turning. She brushed Kid's arm and the two left the two men in the tent, Maka calling out that she was done for the day as she threw the handkerchief on Stein's desk.

When they were out of the tent Kid started to snicker.

"Kid," Maka whined. "That was so embarrassing." He let out an especially loud guffaw as they approached the woods to get to the stream. She elbowed him but smiled widely.

"I'm sorry, but that answer was so desperate and you were scrambling so hard to get it," Kid said when he had calmed.

Maka sighed in defeat and looked at the tall man. Some of his hair was peeking out from under his hat and his face was flushed from laughing. Maka smiled and quietly continued to watch the man as he radiated with happiness. She was glad that his mind was off of dinner.

"Oh, you're still holding Eugene," Maka said suddenly.

"He fell asleep," Kid stated. "He didn't like listening to the man get stitches."

"Yeah," Maka sighed. "He usually buries his face in Tsubaki's leg until I'm free. When she's not there for him to distract himself, he usually just covers his ears and closes his eyes."

"Poor kid," Kid said quietly.

"Yeah," Maka said. The stream was in front of them and Maka squatted down to wash her hands. When all of the blood was gone she shook them in an attempt to dry them.

"So," Kid started, gaining Maka's attention. "What was the old cartoon reference?"

Maka stopped shaking her hands and laughed. "It's a catcall. There was an old cartoon where whenever an attractive woman walked in the room, the characters would say 'hello, _nurse_ '. Honestly, that's the first time I've gotten that one."

"That one?" Kid asked.

"Tsubaki and I are women," Maka said. "For whatever reason, beings catcall us in medical while they're injured. I'm guessing that it's because they think of us as nurses, as shown today." She thought for a moment. "There usually aren't many male beings that volunteer in medical, but I've heard a couple of them catcalled too actually."

"But what does that have to do with anything?" Kid asked.

Maka thought for a moment, brushing her bangs out of her face. "On the surface there's this… fantasy, I guess, that some have about a 'hot nurse'," Maka said using her fingers to make air quotes. "Often it's about attractive women with small nurse costumes and thigh-high stockings."

"And you're his 'hot nurse'?" Kid asked, face flushed, clearly uncomfortable with the idea.

"Apparently," Maka muttered. "I can take Eugene."

"Oh no, I'm quite fine," Kid assured.

Maka suddenly gasped. "I called you by your name," she breathed.

"It's fine. You didn't say my full name, so I hardly find it a problem. I told Soul my name was Kid. And they probably didn't even think that you were calling my name," Kid said.

Maka stared hard at her friend's face for a moment. He smiled reassuringly and she relaxed. "You're right. Maybe they thought I was calling you a kid." She smiled up at Kid and said, "We should probably head back. I'm sorry to say, but dinner will be starting soon."

Kid groaned and took off his hat. He pushed his hair back and smiled at Maka as he put the hat back on. "Let's get this over with," he said.

Maka nodded and stepped closer to Kid. She lightly shook Eugene and the boy woke up. "It's time for dinner," she whispered. The boy nodded groggily and Kid set him down. The three walked to the food supply as the sun tiredly started to set. Maka caught sight of Tsubaki and winked at Kid. "Good luck," she said.

Liz and Patty were waiting just outside of the food supply. Liz waved Kid over as Maka made her way over to Tsubaki, Eugene holding her hand.

"Hello Maka," she said. "How was the rest of the day in medical?"

"There was some dude that hit on me," Maka responded. "He used that hello nurse thing from the old cartoons. You know it, right?"

"Unfortunately," Tsubaki sighed.

"Tsubaki I was wondering about shadows," Maka said. She handed Eugene two mugs of juice and took their plates to the table that Soul and Black Star were currently sitting at.

"What about them?" Tsubaki asked.

"What do they usually look like?" Maka asked as she sat. She placed Eugene's plate in front of the small boy and he handed her one of the mugs of juice. The boys quieted to hear the girls' conversation.

"Well." Tsubaki paused. "They usually are black and wispy. They often appear to blur in and out of focus, though their eyes, usually bright white, are always crisp and clear. Sometimes they'll take the form of what they looked like when they were human. I've never seen one go from one form to another, but I've seen the two separate forms."

"Shadows?" Soul asked. "Why are you talking about shadows?"

"Well- please don't react too loudly," she said looking Black Star in the eyes. He held his hands up in mock surrender. "When I was with Kid this morning because of the rain, one visited his tent. They wanted to kill him and were trying to get him to let them in the tent by pretending to be injured."

"A shadow was on the campground?" Soul asked, eyes wide.

Maka nodded. "I managed to convince it that it had the wrong tent, but the fact that it was here is still stressful."

"Well yeah," Black Star bit out. "A fucking shadow, huh."

"Good thing you're okay," Tsubaki said. "Shadows can be pretty terrible."

Soul nodded and shoved a chunk of potato in his mouth. "So where is the prince anyway?"

"Yeah," Black Star said. "Didn't you say something important would be happening during dinner?"

"Yeah," Maka confirmed.

"I heard Sid telling someone that they should inform others to be here," Tsubaki said.

There were a couple beats of silence in which everyone ate their food. Maka looked around the food supply. There were a lot of beings here, some just standing idly, others chatting. She listened to the beings around her and noticed that some were asking why they needed to be here. She sipped her juice, food all gone, waiting for Kid or Liz or Patty to gather everyone's attention.

"Where is he?" she whispered to herself. She clutched her mug of juice tightly in her hands and chewed on her bottom lip.

"Where the fu-" Black Star was cut off by Patty's voice.

"Excuse me! Excuse me everyone, may I have your attention," she yelled loudly. She was standing on a table near the entrance of the food supply. Liz was standing behind her and Kid was standing beside her. He had a blank expression on his face. "Thank you!" she said to the silent crowd.

Kid looked around at the crowed and Maka caught his eye. She smiled widely and gave him a thumbs up. He straightened his back and said, "I am sorry to interrupt your meal, and I'm sure that many of you are tired. I have an important announcement." He looked at Maka again and she pointed to her head. He reached up and took his hat off.

The crowd, which had started to whisper when he mentioned that the announcement they were going to make was important, hushed. "As you can tell by my Lines of Sanzu, I am the god's son. I have come here to reconnect with Sid and Stein. The past few years I have been gathering information about the new queen. I have learned what her weapons and defenses are and I have learned what she herself can do." Kid paused. Maka placed her mug on the table to give him her undivided attention. "I have learned that she has control over a few shadows and a witch as well as the last immortal. I do not know how she obtained control over these beings, just that she has the ability to. I have a plan to take down the new queen-"

"Why did this take you so long?"

"It doesn't take more than a year to gain information!"

"Why didn't you come here earlier?"

"You're just a fucking _coward_!"

"Oh my," Maka breathed as the crowd became angrier.

"Wait!" a voice yelled. "I want to hear this brilliant plan that has taken years to come up with." The crowd hushed and all eyes turned to Kid.

Kid looked to Maka, expression never changing even when the crowd was yelling at him. She nodded in encouragement. "I want to gather a small group of able-bodied and willing beings. There is to be a gala in the queen's honor next week for her birthday. I plan to infiltrate it with the small group that I gather and we will defeat the queen after the party is over."

"And just how do you plan to do that?" another voice yelled out.

"I told you that I have studied her defenses. I have analysed the 'weapons' that she has and I know the kind of beings that would be best at challenging what." He paused. "I know that it has taken me years to get to this point, and I will admit I wasted more time than I should have mourning my father, but I promise that I will take down the new queen." There was a tense silence.

Maka rose slowly sensing that Kid would be leaving the food supply soon. She squeezed Eugene's hand before letting it go and whispered to Tsubaki, "I'm sorry, but I feel like I should talk to him as soon as this is done. Can you take mine and Eugene's stuff back when this is over? Can you also make sure he gets to bed?"

"Don't worry about it," Tsubaki assured her friend. "I'm sure he'll need some support after this judging by the way this has gone so far."

"Thanks," Maka whispered as Kid started to speak again. She kissed Eugene's forehead and started to walk to the table that Kid and his partners were on.

"I will be seeing anyone that wants to join me tomorrow. If you wish to join us, meet my partners and me by the stone wall close to the archery field that looks over the city." He turned to face the entrance of the food supply. Liz and Patty had already started to approach the edge of the table. "Oh, I should also mention that the shadows know where we are," Kid stated loudly, not facing the crowd.

"Shit," Maka muttered under her breath. There was a beat of silence as Liz and Patty jumped off the table.

" _What?!_ " roared a voice.

Suddenly the food supply was full of shouts and cries of anger and confusion. Kid hopped off of the table and grabbed Maka's wrist. He calmly started to walk out of the food shelter, though his hand was gripping her wrist tightly. She slipped her hand into his own and gave a reassuring squeeze as there was a crash of something being thrown at them but falling short. Maka started to tug Kid out fast as another crash came from behind the two. When they exited the food supply, Kid started to run, pulling Maka. They ran to his tent where he picked up a large pouch, the sound of metal clanging from inside as he shoved it in his pocket. He handed Maka a black jacket and started to change.

Maka pulled the jacket on and found that it was an army style jacket with multiple pockets. It was large on her, but that was to be expected. She shoved her hands in the pockets and watched as Kid pulled on a grey long sleeved shirt and black woolen sweater. He pulled his hat back on and faced Maka.

"Let's go," he said.

Maka nodded. It made sense that he'd want to leave as soon as he was done with the announcement. Before they exited his tent, Kid paused. Maka stopped and looked up at him, giving him a confused look. He turned to face her and zipped up the jacket and pulled the elastic out of her hair. She took the elastic back from his as he smoothed her hair down.

"They saw you leave with me. They'll recognize you," he explained. Maka nodded and stood still as he looked her over. "Okay, let's go."

The two exited the tent and quickly made their way to the path that would lead them to the road leading to the city.

* * *

 **Ah yes. Late as always. This chapter was actually pretty long compared to what I usually write, so I hope that makes up for it being late. Next time: Maka and Kid buy soap and a wooden giraffe. Super exciting, I know.**

 **Thank you for reading and sorry for any mistakes made in this chapter.**

 **-littlecat**


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

As the two walked up the path to the city Maka watched as the moon grinned. When leaving the camp, someone almost saw her. She thought about how she'd be associated with him, and found that she was fine with that fact. She knew that she would probably be treated differently by her patients in medical, but there was nothing she could do now.

"Well that went as well as expected," Kid said, breaking Maka away from her thoughts.

"I didn't expect them to throw stuff at us. When you said they would, I thought that you were just joking," Maka responded. She thought for a moment. "The night that we met, there was a woman working in the kitchen that seemed to recognise you, but didn't seem upset that you are here."

"She used to work in the academy, like many of the rebels in the campground. She cooked many meals for my family on the side, and was one of my father's favorite chefs," Kid said.

"Well, not everyone is upset that you're here," Maka said.

"Yes, but that reaction from the crowd will probably prevent many that do support me from meeting me tomorrow. I imagine they would be too afraid." Kid stared hard at the path in front of him.

Maka sighed. "That's true." She thought for a moment before saying, "I'm sure that there will be beings willing to join you." Kid looked at her and she gave him a wide, reassuring smile.

"Thank you," Kid said softly. The two fell into a comfortable silence and Maka adjusted the collar of the jacket she was wearing. When they got back on the path she had put her hair into pigtails, Kid helping with the symmetry.

"So what do you need to buy on this trip?" Maka asked.

"I need to get more paper and ink. I guess some new pen nibs would be nice too…" Kid trailed off. "Liz requested some oil to use for her hair and Patty wants a wooden giraffe."

"A wooden giraffe?" Maka laughed.

"You learn to not question these things," Kid muttered.

"And you're sure that you have enough keb for all of these things plus homemade soap?" Maka asked.

"I have no doubt that I have enough," Kid said. "It may sound a bit snobbish, but I've always had money. Living in a wealthy family, my allowance has always been quite large, and the inheritance money I received when my father died is a large amount."

Maka laughed. "I guess I never thought about that." She paused. "Sometimes I forget that you're a god. I know people refer to you as 'the god's son', hell, I've called you that before, but I guess it never really meant much. I never really thought much of your family. To me, and this may be because I met you not knowing who you are, to me, you're pretty much a normal person." She quieted.

Kid stared at his friend in disbelief. He flushed and looked straight ahead. "I- thanks. It's nice to have someone who doesn't constantly think of my as a god or prince. I find it comforting that you think of me as normal."

The two fell silent and Maka looked away from Kid. In front of them was a gate with a large chipped skull. It was dirty and eroded. They had arrived at the city. She looked at Kid as he stopped walking. She saw his eyes glaze over as he looked up at the skull that was falling apart. The skull that was the same as his father's mask.

She bit her lip and thought for a moment as Kid stared at the skull. She reached up and put her hand on his arm. He barely flinched as she startled him out of his thoughts.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. She rubbed his arm in what she hoped was a comforting way. He nodded and slid his hand from her shoulder to the hand on his own arm. He laced their fingers together and stepped toward the entrance to the city.

"Let's go," he said.

Maka nodded and walked close to his side, their hands still together. She followed him to an open air market. There were all kinds of different beings. There were shadows wandering around, and beings with subtle deformities. She followed Kid to a stand that sold homemade stationary. He chose one that was simple. Clean cut, tied up with a thin black ribbon, Maka found that the stationary fit him well. He paid for it and they moved to another stand.

Maka watched as he looked at an array of different pen nibs and picked a package of three identical nibs. From the same stand, he also purchased a bottle of black ink. The owner of the stand, an elderly man covered in tan cloth, nothing but his eyes showing, gave Kid a canvas pouch to hold his purchase.

Maka slowed as they passed a stand selling tea. She glanced at the tins, painted beautifully with different designs in different colors. The names of the teas were painted in careful calligraphy.

"Do you want some?" Kid asked her quietly.

"Oh I was just looking," she muttered back.

"If you want a tin, I can get it for you," Kid said. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. They still hadn't let go.

"Thank you," Maka said after a moment of hesitation. They approached the stand and Maka looked at the tins. The woman who ran the stand looked up at her from her seat on a wicker stool. The way the stand was set up was simple, but still looked nice, Maka thought. The tins were set up in a line, the colors of the designs in rainbow order. She looked at the one marked 'Jasmine'. The paint was a pale green, almost white.

"Jasmine," the woman running the stand said. Her voice was soft and light. She was wrapped up in scarves of various shades of purple. "A wonderful flavor and a personal favorite."

"It's one of my favorites too," Maka said. "I'll take this one," she said, pointing to the tin she had been looking at.

The woman nodded. She handed the tin to Maka after placing it in a small drawstring pouch. "That will be twelve keb," she said.

Kid reached out and dropped the coins in woman's hands.

"Thank you," Maka said. The woman nodded and replaced the tin of jasmine tea. Kid lightly tugged on her hand and the she smiled up at him as the two started to walk.

"Jasmine is a favorite?" Kid asked. As they came to a stand selling various oils and slaves. He purchased a small bottle of rose oil. He wrapped the bottle in a small cloth that he had in his pocket and handed it to Maka.

Maka hummed. "Yes. It was my mom's favorite and we'd drink it a lot when she was still living with us. After she and my dad divorced and she moved away, I tried to drink it as often as I could." She placed the bottle in one of the pockets of the jacket she was wearing.

Kid nodded. The two continued to walk until they came to a booth selling bars of soap and candle sticks. Maka sniffed some of the bars from baskets. She came to one labeled milk and honey which she felt Soul would like. There was another labeled green tea which she felt Black Star would like. She let go of Kid's hand to hold one in each hand. The tin was hanging from one of her wrists by the sting of the bag.

"Which one?" she asked herself.

"Which one?" Kid asked.

"Well the milk and honey one, Soul would like that one. But green tea, Black Star would like it." She bit her lip and looked at the two bars of soap. The two scents were very different.

"I can get you both," Kid said.

Maka jerked her head to look up at him. "No I couldn't ask you to do that."

"You aren't asking," Kid murmured. "I'm offering."

Maka shook her head. "But you already got my the tea." She looked at the soap.

"It's just soap," Kid said, gently taking the bars from her. "Think of it like a gift." He smiled down at her, and Maka bit her lip before sighing.

"It's just soap," she said.

"It's just soap." Kid took the bars up to the owner of the booth who wrapped the bars separately in wax paper and tied them up in twine. They were placed in a brown paper bag and Kid thanked the owner as they tended to another customer.

"Thank you," Maka said as Kid handed the bag to her. "I'm sorry I made such a big deal out of the soap. I'm just not used to-" she paused, trying to think of the right words. "I'm not used to depending on people. After my mama left, I grew more independent."

Kid hummed.

"I'll find a way to pay you back," Maka said confidently.

"How do you plan to do that?" Kid asked with a chuckle.

Maka thought for a heartbeat before saying, "I'll join you."

Kid raised a brow. "You realize I just bought you a tin of tea and two bars of soap, right? I hardly think that joining me is even pay for bars of soap and tea."

"Yes, but I was thinking of joining you anyway," Maka hummed. "I'm probably not as able as others but I'm able to use a bow pretty decently and I have excellent reflexes."

Kid looked down at the blonde woman in disbelief. He pulled her outside of the booth and to a quiet space not close to any stands or booths. "You realize that we've only known each other for a few days right?"

Maka nodded. "I am aware of that fact, but I still want to help."

"Are you sure?" Kid asked.

"Yes. I'm sure that I want to join you. I already know the plan, I can practice using the bow and other weapons." Maka looked into Kid's eyes with a serious, hard expression. The shadows on her face made it more intense. "I want to help. I want to join you."

He thought for a moment. "Okay," he sighed.

"Really?" Maka breathed.

"Yes. You may join me," Kid said. Maka smiled and hopped, expression now gleeful. "But you have to promise that you will be careful, okay?"

"Yes, I promise," Maka said. She grabbed Kid's wrist and tugged him as she started to walk into the bazaar. "Let's go find that wooden giraffe."

Kid nodded and followed Maka. She walked around, Kid silent at her side. He watched as her hair shined in the moonlight and lights of the lamps throughout the streets. He watched the petite woman as she lead him around the bazaar in search of a booth or stand with wooden toys. There was bound to be one.

"Ah," she said. She tugged Kid's wrist and they walked to a booth full of wooden carvings. There were several masks, but the majority of the carvings were little figures. Maka stared at the intricate details on several carvings of animals. She let go of Kid's wrist as she looked through the many carvings. A lot of them were bears. She looked to Kid and saw that he was inspecting the figures as well.

"Oh hello miss," said a man's voice. Maka looked away from Kid and faced the voice. The man was sitting on a chair with a knife and what looked to be the beginning of another figure. "How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for a gift for a friend," Maka said.

"Well you've made an excellent choice," the man said. He grinned widely and Maka gave a nervous smile back.

"These are really beautiful," Maka said to the eccentric man.

"Why thank you miss," the man said.

"Maka," Kid called. Both she and the booth owner looked to him. Maka smiled at the booth owner as Kid waved her over. She quickly walked to him. "Which one?" Kid asked.

In front of him was an array of giraffes varying in size. Maka looked at them with a soft smile. "They're all so cute," she whispered. Kid chuckled. She picked up a giraffe that looked to be about eight inches tall. It was standing, neck long and head up. The detail in the pattern of the fur was delicate and gentle. Maka smiled at the detail of the hair in it's tail. "This one."

"This one," Kid confirmed.

"Yes," Maka responded.

Kid nodded and the two approached the booth owner he looked up from his carving and gave a wide smile. "That one's a beauty ain't it?" He put his knife and wood aside and said, "That'd be fifteen."

Kid nodded and payed the man. The woodcarver smiled and waved at the two as they exited the booth. Maka held the giraffe and smiled down at it.

"I think that Patty will love this," Maka said.

"I hope so," Kid said. "This is a really nice carving."

"Okay, that was all, right?" Maka asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." Kid nodded and looked down at his friend. "We better head back then." The two walked through the bazaar towards the exit and Maka made sure to stick close to Kid. The moon was still grinning in the sky and Maka chewed her lip. It was really late and she knew that she was in for some questioning when she got back.

It was quiet when they exited the city, only their footsteps and some shuffling. Maka glanced at the paper in Kid's hand. Kid's unoccupied hand was rubbing the back of his middle finger.

"Why are you rubbing your finger like that?" Maka asked.

"I usually wear rings on my middle fingers. I couldn't wear them here because they have my father's mask on them." He stared at his hands and exhaled. "I haven't worn them since I got here because I've been hiding who I am. But since I've told the campground that I'm here and my plan, I can wear them again."

"What do they look like?" Maka inquired.

"They're silver with, like I said, a design that resembles my father's mask. There's three thin bands from the back of the design." Kid smiled. "You'll see them tomorrow."

"Yes. Yes I will. And I'm really excited," Maka said. "I'm probably going to practice a bit tomorrow morning. When I do that I tend to lose track of time. Don't be afraid to interrupt me."

Kid hummed. "I'll remember that."

"Thank you again for the buying me tea and soap," Maka said. She looked down at the bags in her hands.

"It's nothing, really," Kid reassured. "But I'm glad that you're happy."

The two fell into a comfortable silence and Maka sighed with content. The rest of the journey back to the campground was spent with subtle glances and smiles of content. Kid walked Maka to her tent and told her to return the jacket in the meeting. When they reached her tent, they stopped in front of the entrance. Maka faced Kid and looked up at him.

"Well, I'll see you in the meeting," Kid said quietly.

"Yes. Oh," Maka said, reaching into the pocket of her jacket. "Before I forget. Here's Liz's oil." She handed the cloth-covered bottle to Kid. He smiled and took the bottle.

"Thank you." She looked up at him before squeezing his arm. "I'll see you."

"Good night, Maka," Kid said softly.

Maka's hand slid off of his arm. "Good night."

* * *

 **Oh man, ever since spring break ended and I came back to school, I've been so lazy. I really want summer to come quickly. I have friends that are counting down the _days_. We're an impatient bunch.**

 **Thank you so much for reading, and sorry for any mistakes made in this chapter (there's bound to be some, I'll come back and edit this chapter later, I think. I'm not feeling awake enough at the moment).**

 **-littlecat**


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

"Where were you?" Black Star demanded.

Maka sighed. As soon as she had walked into the tent she saw that the lamp was on. Soul and Black Star were standing. Black Star had his arms crossed and Soul was leaning on the desk. Tsubaki stood behind Black Star, an apologetic look on her face.

"I tried to tell them that you were just comforting him," she said.

"Yeah, but you were gone for hours," Soul put in. "What's that?" He nodded to the bags in Maka's hands. "Is that Kid's jacket?"

"These," Maka started, holding up the brown bag. "Are bars of soap for you two." She said, pointing to the boys. "And this," she said holding up the pouch that held the tin of tea. "Is jasmine tea for us," she said, smiling at Tsubaki.

"Oh, thank you," Tsubaki said. Maka handed her the pouch when her tall friend walked up to her. She pulled the tin out of the pouch and gasped. "Oh this design in beautiful. How- how did you get these?"

"Oh, Kid bought these for me," she said slowly. She pulled the soap out of the bag and shoved the bag into the pocket of the jacket. "Milk and honey," she said, handing the bar of that scent to Soul. "Green tea," she said, handing the other bar to Black Star.

The boys stared at the bars of soap, Soul unwrapping his and smelling it. He nodded in approval.

"I know that you don't like using lavender," she said to Soul. "And that you haven't been bathing because of the lavender, so…" She looked between the two and gave a smile and a shrug.

"Oh my god," Black Star laughed.

"What? Do you not like the soap?" Maka asked, worried.

"No, I love the soap," he unwrapped it and smelled it. "It smells fantastic. I-" he gave a bark of laughter.

"Are you okay?" Tsubaki asked, holding out a hand. She looked worried.

"Maka," He said, grabbing the small woman's shoulders. "You have a sugar daddy!"

"Excuse me?" she exclaimed, voice cracking.

"Yeah, Black Star, what?" Soul asked. He had placed his bar of soap on the desk. "Sugar daddy?"

"He's rich!" Black Star exclaimed. "He's like your sugar daddy. Rich, clearly likes you. He's already given you gifts." He quieted and murmered, "I wonder what he wants in return…"

"Don't men have to be old to be considered a 'sugar daddy'?" Soul asked.

"Black Star..." Tsubaki started.

"He _is_ older than her," Black Star said. "He's what? Four, five years older than her."

"Black Star," Maka said firmly. "He's not my- ugh- sugar daddy." She sighed and unzipped the jacket she was wearing. "I don't want to deal with this right now. I have to get sleep for the meeting tomorrow-"

"The meeting?" Soul interrupted. "To join him in the rebellion?"

"Yes," Maka said, pulling off the jacket. "I am joining him and I was actually hoping that you would as well."

"Well I was planning to already but Maka," Black Star started. "Maka, this will be super dangerous."

"Yes, I am aware of that," Maka said, untucking the shirt from her skirt.

Soul sighed. "We were all planning to join anyway."

"Yeah. We were actually talking about it when we got back," Tsubaki said. "We're all going to the meeting tomorrow." She paused and looked at Eugene. The small boy was sleeping in his mat.

"Who will Eugene be staying with?" Maka asked quietly.

"Well we can ask him, but I'm thinking that he should stay with someone we know," Soul said.

Tsubaki nodded. "We didn't know if you'd join, so we didn't talk much about it."

Maka bit her lip and placed the folded jacket on the desk. She took off her skirt and shoved it into the laundry sack. "I'm going to change," she announced. Soul nodded and Black Star sat on his and Tsubaki's mat.

She took a large sweater and tank top as well as a pair of loose shorts. She set up the sheet and changed quickly. After she changed and put her dirty clothes in the laundry sack, she sat on her mat and stared at Eugene. She lightly brushed his hair off of his face and smiled.

"I wasn't sure if you would be joining either," she said quietly.

She was met with silence. Soul sat on his mat and put his hand on her shoulder. "We'll find somewhere for him to stay while we're away, Maka. Don't worry."

"Thank you Soul," she whispered. Soul nodded and turned off the lamp. They all settled into their mats and whispered good nights before falling asleep.

Maka was the first to wake the next morning. She sat up and looked around the tent. She stared at Eugene's sleeping face and smiled. He was curled up, facing her mat, his little hands curled by his face.

"We'll find a place," Soul said. Maka jumped and looked to her friend. He pushed himself up on his elbows and blinked tiredly. Maka turned to face him fully. Soul rested his head in his hand. "Don't worry Maka. We'll find a place for him."

Maka smiled and looked back at Eugene. She brushed his hair aside. The boy opened his eyes and sat up quickly. Smiling, he crawled into her lap and hugged her middle. Maka shifted to face Soul and buried her head in Eugene's hair. She inhaled and quickly pulled her face away.

"Eugene," she scolded. He looked up. "You need a bath, stinky," she teased. She tickled his sides lightly causing him to giggle quietly. "Smelly, smelly," she laughed. He squirmed and giggled, pushing her away.

Soul chuckled and sat up. "I could bathe him."

"Would you?" Maka asked, hugging a still smiling Eugene to her chest.

"You got that soap. I don't see why not," Soul shrugged. "The sun's up. We could get going soon so that I can still make it to the meeting."

Maka thought for a moment. "That sounds good." She looked down at Eugene. "You okay with taking a bath with Soul?" she asked. He looked at Soul before looking back up at Maka and nodding.

"Okay," Soul said, standing. He stretched and walked over to the desk. He picked up the bar of soap and a change of clothes for both him and Eugene as well as towels. Maka stood and walked to the changing cloth. "Let's go bud," Soul said, grabbing Eugene's hand. The two walked out of the tent.

"Oh, Soul wait," Maka said. "I'm going to be at the archery range until the meeting. I told Kid to get me from there."

Soul nodded and he and Eugene walked out of the tent. Maka smiled and took off the sweater. She put her hair in a bun and pulled on a faded pink shorts. She pulled on a pair of clean socks and her boots. Maka looked at the sleeping couple and took the brown bag out of Kid's jacket. She took a stick of Eugene's charcoal and wrote a quick note explaining where everyone was before grabbing the jacket and jogging out of the tent.

She stopped at the food supply to grab an apple and drink a mug of water. She tied the jacket around her waist and stopped by Nygus' tent to grab a bow and a quiver of arrows. She jogged to the archery range and watched the campground wake up as she ate her apple. After finishing the apple, she stretched.

"Okay," she muttered to herself. Taking a breath, Maka concentrated and shot an arrow. She hit the bull's eye. She stepped back and aimed. Another bull's eye. Maka stared at the arrow. She looked around before she started to walk, taking aim. She shot another arrow at the next target, hitting the ring directly outside of the bull's eye. She drew another arrow and shot at the next target, continuing to walk. She hit the bull's eye. Biting her lip, she took aim and shot. Close, but the ring outside.

"Too far to the left," she said to herself. Continuing to walk, she shot another arrow, hitting the last target. Bull's eye. "Yes!" She ran up to the target and collected the arrow. She walked along the targets and collected the rest of the arrows.

She continued to practice shooting the arrows while walking for a while before she started to jog and shoot. After a while, she started to run, hitting the outer rings. She continued to run and aim until she got close to the bull's eye every time.

"Hey," she heard Soul call. Maka turned to see Soul walking towards her with Eugene at his side. He pulled out a throwing knife and grinned. "I thought that I could get some practicing done while I'm here."

"That's great. I'm going to take a break," Maka called out, breathing heavily from the running. She collected the remaining arrows and smiled. As she walked to the shade of the trees on the opposite side of the field, Eugene and Soul jogged up to her.

"Why are you so sweaty?" Soul asked.

"I was running," Maka responded.

"Running?" He raised an eyebrow and shifted his weight to one foot.

"I was practicing aiming while moving," she explained.

"Smart thinking Albarn," Soul said.

Maka laughed. "Well thank you-" she paused. "Soul, I don't know your last name," she said in a teasing tone.

"Evans," he said simply. "Soul Evans."

"Well Evans, I appreciate the compliment." Maka smiled and looked down at Eugene.

"I'm gonna practice," Soul said with a grin.

"Is it okay if I watch?" Maka asked, squatting next to Eugene.

"That's fine," Soul shrugged. He grinned and turned, throwing a knife. It hit the bull's eye dead on. He looked smugly back at Maka who was staring at him in disbelief. "Don't get too jealous," he said.

Maka laughed and sat. She spent a couple moments watching as Soul walked closer to the targets. She watched as he hit the bull's eye every time. After a while, she faced Eugene.

"Eugene," she said softly. "I- We- Soul, Black Star, Tsubaki and I- we're going to be joining Kid. You remember his speech from last night." The boy nodded. "We will be joining him and that means we will be leaving." She watched as the boy's eyes widened. "I'm sorry bud, but this is something we all need to do. As much as I hate to admit, I don't think Kid has many supporters that are willing to support him like this."

Eugene blinked and looked away from Maka. She grabbed his hands and moved to look at his face. There was no noise between the two, only the background noise of Soul walking and the _thump_ of his knives hitting the targets.

"Eugene, face me please," she said softly. "I'm sorry that we have to go, sweety, really." She was whispering now, not sure she could trust her voice. "We love you. If there was no queen, this wouldn't be happening, but we have to do this."

Eugene faced Maka and sniffed.

"Eugene…" She pulled the boy closer. "Eugene." She heard him sniff. "We want to find somewhere for you to stay while we're gone. Is there anywhere that you'd be okay with?" She pulled away from the sniffling boy.

He covered one of his eyes and sniffed again.

"Miss Marie?" Maka asked. The boy dropped his hand and nodded. He blinked rapidly and sniffed again. "Eugene. I'll miss you so much while I'm gone. I promise to come back."

The boy started to shed tears. Maka held his face and wiped his tears away. There was a lump in her throat that was making it hard to swallow. She hugged him into her chest, and the boy wrapped his arms around her middle. She stroked his head and bit her lip.

Hearing steps, she looked up. Soul was quickly walking over.

"Marie," she whispered.

"I'm sorry, Maka, I didn't hear you," Soul said, kneeling down.

"He'll be staying with Miss Marie." Maka looked at the ground as Soul settled next to her.

He wrapped an arm around the two of them, and sighed. The two sat as Eugene silently cried into Maka's chest. Maka hugged Eugene tighter as she felt his shoulders shake. Soul pulled the two of them closer, not used to comforting people. He hugged them to his side and looked at Eugene as Maka leaned into his side.

"Miss Marie is a great person," Soul said quietly.

Maka nodded. "She is. I'm really glad Eugene will be staying with her."

"Me too," Soul sighed.

The three sat there for a few moments until Eugene stopped crying. He turned his head to look at Soul.

"Hey, bud," Soul said softly. "You feeling better?"

Eugene nodded. Maka sat up and Soul dropped his arm from Maka's shoulders, instead placing it behind her to lean his weight on it. Eugene pulled his head away from Maka and wiped his eyes and nose. Maka smiled at him and kissed his forehead.

"Hey guys!"

Soul and Maka looked up at the voice. Black Star and Tsubaki were running towards them. Soul waved them over. The couple made their way to the three sitting on the ground. The couple sat in front of Soul, Maka, and Eugene.

"Miss Marie," Soul said.

Tsubaki nodded. "She's a wonderful choice." The tall woman tucked some stray hair behind her ear and leaned over Black Star to stroke Eugene's head. She smiled softly as Black Star wrapped an arm around her and his other around Maka.

"Well I'm glad he's going to stay with someone we trust," he said quietly.

Tsubaki leaned into his side and rested her head on his shoulder. Soul leaned closer to the rest of the group and Maka rubbed soothing circles on Eugene's arm. Eugene turned to face away from Maka, but leaned back into her. He looked up at Soul and reached up to tug lightly on his t-shirt sleeve. The white-haired man smiled down at the boy. Maka looked from Eugene to Soul, glad that the two were finally getting along. She smiled and faced Soul, leaning into Black Star. Soul looked up and met her eyes with a grin. The group sat there, content and calm as the quiet of the field became comforting background noise.

* * *

 **Oh man, it's only 8:45 where I am, and I'm already super tired. I'm thinking that this story will have (at most) around 35 chapters. Somewhere between 30 and 35 sounds about right at the moment.**

 **Thank you so much for reading, and sorry for any mistakes. You guys are really awesome for sticking with this story! Almost to 20 chapters!**

 **-littlecat**


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

A light breeze passed by the group as Tsubaki sighed and Maka smiled down at Eugene.

"Oh hey look," Black Star said, breaking everyone from their thoughts. Everyone looked at him as he removed his arm from around Maka and waved. "It's Maka's sugar daddy."

Soul snickered and Tsubaki sat up with a sigh. Maka looked in the direction Black Star was waving to and gave a small wave to Kid, Liz and Patty. "I'd appreciate if you wouldn't call him that," she murmured, hitting his arm.

"I won't do it when you're around then," Black Star said quietly.

Maka gave an exasperated sigh and gave Black Star a tired look. "Just around Soul and Tsubaki."

Black Star lowered his arm and raised a brow as he turned to her. Maka glared and crossed her arms behind Eugene. They stared at each other for a moment before Black Star sighed dramatically.

"Fine. Only around Soul and Tsubaki," he grumbled.

"Thank you," Maka said triumphantly.

Soul chuckled and Tsubaki smiled at the two. Maka looked back to where Kid was and waved him, Liz and Patty over. He nodded and the three walked faster towards the group.

"I was under the impression that I'd be stopping you while you were practicing," Kid said as he approached the group.

"Well I was practicing for a while, but I'm on a break currently," Maka responded. "Why don't you join us? I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to relax for a bit before the meeting."

"Gladly," Liz said, sitting. "Hello. I'm Liz and this is my sister Patty." She pointed to her sister who waved as she plopped down beside her. "We've met," she said to Tsubaki. "But I don't think I know you boys."

"I'm Black Star!" Black Star exclaimed. Kid sat down and rolled up his sleeves. "I'm Tsubaki's _super_ hot boyfriend and Soul and Maka's best friend." He gave a wide grin and hugged Tsubaki close to his side.

"I'm Soul. I'm a roommate and friend." He gave a two finger salute and then pointed to Eugene. "This is Eugene. He doesn't talk, but he's a wonderful kid."

Liz smiled widely at Eugene and leaned over to look at him more closely. She waved and said, "You're so cute." Eugene smiled and waved back. Liz looked up at Maka and then back to Eugene. "Are you siblings? You look awfully alike."

"Yes," Maka said. "We aren't blood related, but we've taken him in." She grinned and hugged the boy closer to her chest for a moment.

"Kid," Soul started with a grin. "Thanks for the soap. It's nice not smelling like flowers."

"Yes," Tsubaki said. "Thank you. Black Star finally bathed."

Kid chuckled. "You're welcome."

Maka laughed and ruffled Eugene's hair. "Eugene was getting pretty stinky too. He and Soul bathed this morning."

"Again, refreshing to use soap that doesn't smell like lavender," Soul muttered.

Maka rolled her eyes. "Anyway," she said. "We should get to the wall. The meeting should start soon." She shifted and Eugene stood, Maka following.

The rest of the group stood and started to walk to the wall. Maka untied the jacket from her waist and brushed off any dirt that had gotten on it while she was sitting. She handed it to Kid who thanked her. She nodded and held Eugene's hand when he tugged on the hem of her shorts lightly. When the wall came into view, Eugene pulled Maka to it. He jumped to look over it and Black Star picked him up so that he could sit on the wall.

"Well," Kid started. "I'm pretty sure that you will be the only ones showing up judging by yesterday's crowd."

"So what's the plan?" Soul asked, leaning against the wall, beside where Eugene was sitting.

Maka looked over the wall and wrapped an arm around Eugene to prevent him from falling. She leaned against the wall as Eugene wrapped his arms around her middle as Kid explained what he intended to do on the mission. He talked about the gala and the child of Medusa as well as Eruka and Free.

"I think I have a dress I could wear to the gala," Maka heard Tsubaki say.

"Which one?" Black Star asked.

"The blue one. You know, with the plunge neckline," Tsubaki said. "It's probably the dressiest one I have."

"Oh yeah. That one's pretty damn fancy," Black Star exclaimed. He gave a loud bark of laughter, startling Maka. "Maka you could wear that little dress we-"

"Ugh, no," Maka groaned, turning to face her friend. "I'm not wearing a fitted cocktail dress to a black tie gala. No."

Black Star snorted. "You can wear a shawl or something."

"Black Star, no cocktail dress," Maka said, turning to fully face him, still keeping an arm around Eugene. "It would be hard to fight in something like that anyway."

"We could go shopping then," Liz put in excitedly. "I need a dress and I'm sure everyone needs new shoes." She shrugged. "You can get a dress too.

"I like that idea a lot more," Maka stated.

"Black Star, you and I need something to wear," Soul said.

"I'm not wearing a monkey suit. No thank you," Black Star said. "I'll wear a collared shirt and slacks, but nothing more than that."

Soul hummed. "That sounds accurate," he murmured to himself.

Maka giggled, the only one close enough to hear it. "Man, I haven't worn a formal dress in a long time. The last time I did was-" she paused to think, "Eighth grade formal."

"The pink one?" Black Star asked.

"The pink one, yes." Maka scrunched up her nose. "That dance…"

"Oh shit that's the one where your dad was chaperoning right? Oh man! He was fucking pissed when Ben asked you out. Ha!" Black Star barked. He laughed for a moment before continuing. "Poor Ben. He wasn't a bad dude. Little bookish, but he was super smart."

Maka sighed. "Yes, poor Ben." She laughed. "He was really timid too."

"Oh poor boy," Tsubaki said. "What did your father do?"

"He yelled at him," Maka sighed.

Black Star laughed again. "God, he told him that he was just trying to take advantage of his darling daughter and that though he was a smart kid he needed to stay away from his 'darling Maka'."

"Ugh, I didn't even know Papa was chaperoning that night. Not until _that_ happened." She snickered. "And remember when he tried to slow dance with me?"

"You were so cold." Black Star looked his friends and made a serious face. "Looked him dead in the eye and told him to go away and that if he wanted a dance that he should dance with Sarah's mom."

"Who's Sarah?" Soul asked. He and the rest of the group watched the conversation between the childhood friends with amusement. Patty shrugged.

"This girl in our grade," Maka said, rolling her eyes. "My papa had been hitting on her mom a couple days earlier during a parent-teacher conference. She taught math."

"So you didn't go to prom?" Tsubaki asked after thinking. It seemed strange for an eighteen year old girl from the Surface to have last worn a formal dress at a middle school dance.

Maka looked to her and said, "No."

"So you chose not to go?" Liz asked. "I find it hard to believe that no one asked you."

Maka sighed. She looked around at everyone. They were all looking at her, expecting her to talk. "I was asked by a few people, but I decided not to go. I did, however, spend the night of prom at the park with my friend Danny. We star gazed and she pointed out constellations." She sighed again, heavier this time. "Her long-time boyfriend, Jackson, had broken up with her the week before and we didn't go to prom because we both knew that he would be there and that seeing him would just upset her."

"Aw," Patty coed. "That's sweet. You spent time with your friend instead of going to prom… Sis, what's prom?"

"It's this big dance that high schools have on the Surface," Liz explained. "It's usually in the spring. People buy fancy clothes and dress up really nicely to spend their night at prom dancing and having fun. People usually bring dates and it's supposed to be a very magical night."

"Kid," Maka started, wanting to stop the talk about her life on the surface. "What are we going to do during the gala? You said that we'd attack after the gala."

"We'll collect information about where the queen is and any changes made to the academy physically. The floor plans that you saw were from when I was still living in the city," Kid explained. "She has probably changed something about the layout since she started her rule."

Maka nodded. "That make sense."

"Tsubaki, you and Maka have been trained medically right?" Kid asked.

The tall woman nodded. "We've both been trained by Stein and I've been working in medical ever since a bit after it was established."

"Tsubaki is a better medic than I am," Maka put in. "She has more experience and has been working in the medical tent longer than I have. I think that if you're thinking about having a medic, she's your girl. I can help too, but not as much as Tsubaki can."

Soul nodded and Black Star hummed in agreement. Tsubaki blushed lightly and smiled.

"Then Tsubaki will be our main medic. From my understanding you also are able to fight?" Kid asked.

"I am quite good with throwing knives and Black Star has taught me some martial arts," Tsubaki responded. "Speaking of weapons, where are we going to put them while we're in the gala?"

"Yeah, we can't just walk around with knives and swords," Black Star said.

"No, we can't," Kid agreed with a nod. "After the gala, we will go to a small building that Sid has secured for me on campus. It isn't far from the ballroom that the gala will be held in, but we will still need to be quick. There, we can grab our weapons and make any wardrobe changes necessary to fight Medusa."

"When did Sid secure this building?" Soul inquired.

"The day before yesterday," Kid said. He thought for a moment before saying, "It used to be a spare storeroom of sorts when I was still living there. Sid told me that it is empty except for a few things like soil and the like for the greenhouse where Medusa grows plants for her potions. I believe he said that it just seems to be a very large garden shed now. He has told me that most of it seems dusty from little to no recent use."

"So we will drop our stuff off there first?"

"We can't all go together, so it will have to be a one or two person job," Kid said.

The group was silent before Soul said, "I'll do it."

Maka shook her head. "You shouldn't do it alone. I'll go with you." She smiled. "Besides, it'll most likely be a lot of stuff to carry for one person."

"Maka this is a risky-" Kid was cut off by Maka's sigh.

"I know. I promise to be careful, but I really want to do this," she said, looking Kid in the eyes.

He stared back before sighing defeated. "I suppose it will be okay as long as Soul accompanies you." He watched as Maka and Soul grinned at each other. "We will be leaving in four days."

* * *

 **I'm going to say this now, even though it's the beginning of May: I will probably not be able to update for the majority of June. Mostly because of exams, but also because there seem to always be so many essays and things like that due at the end of the year, and I need to put school first. I hope this doesn't bother those who read this story when it updates.**

 **Thank you for reading! Sorry for any mistakes.**

 **-littlecat**


	21. Interlude

Maka took a deep breath in and smiled as she exhaled. She was lying down in a part of the desert that was far from the city in which she resided. She opened her eyes and looked up at the stars. Out in the desert, away from the light pollution, she could see the stars twinkling and could point out constellations seen clearly in the night sky.

It was Black Star's last week before he moved to Seattle and the two were stargazing in their personal getaway in the desert. They got there by foot, using the long walk as exercise when they felt up to it. They were laying on beach towels, their heads next to each other with space between them, their feet in opposite directions.

"Orion is especially bright tonight," Maka said quietly. She pointed up at the constellation with a sleeved arm. Her light blue pullover had been a present from Black Star on her last birthday when she turned thirteen. It was simple, but super soft and perfect for the late night outings the two enjoyed so much. It got cold in the desert at night. It was her favorite.

She heard Black Star let out a bitter laugh. "It's like he's saying goodbye to my awesomeness." She turned her head to look at her blue-haired friend. He was staring hard at the sky.

"Orion can been seen from all around the world at night. I hope that we're going to be in the same time zone, so at night we'll know that we're staring at the same stars."

"If I'll be able to see him with all the light pollution in the sky," Black Star sighed. "I don't want to leave Maka."

Maka lightly placed her hand next to their heads. She closed her eyes and waited for Black Star to place his hand over hers. She felt his fingers slide over hers and she bent her fingers so that their fingers were clutching each other. She brushed her thumb over his knuckles. His hands were large and calloused from how active he was, constantly doing handstands and climbing anything he could. She smiled.

"Black Star, I don't want you to leave either," she whispered. "If I could, I'd have Papa adopt you once and for all, but we just don't have the money. I wish you could stay with us, but you new foster parents are in another state, so you have to."

"Can't I just live in your apartment or something? Your dad isn't home enough to notice another person living there," Black Star said, turning to face Maka.

Maka caught the emotion in his dark green eyes past their hands and gave him a sad smile. "I'd love to, but I don't think that's legal," Maka said.

"Neither is letting an underage person stay home alone for as long as your father does, but that doesn't stop him," Back Star muttered. His white and green baseball tee was stained and worn from activity. He and Maka had found it at a thrift store that they frequently went to to buy inexpensive clothes, and it had quickly become his favorite, all of the stains from his messy eating habits.

"Papa isn't a very good parent," Maka said, eyes moving to Black Star's hair. The messy wisps were especially out of control that night.

She felt fingers tighten the around her's and she squeezed his hooked fingers back. The two looked back to the sky and Maka placed her free hand on her stomach.

"I don't want to start over," she heard Black Star whisper. She heard the break in his voice, and she knew he must really be upset to show how upset he was even to her. "Even if it's high school, and a 'fine transition time' as the care says," he took in a deep breath, "I don't want to leave Nevada. This is all I've known for years."

Maka swallowed thickly. "I don't want you to leave either," she said. "You're my closest friend. It's not going to be the same without your amazing presence here." The two fell into silence and stared at the stars. This would be the last time they could visit this spot together, and Maka hoped they would meet again in the future.

* * *

 **This has nothing to do with plot, I just really love exploring platonic relationships.**

 **Thank you so much for reading. Sorry for any mistakes.**

 **-littlecat**


	22. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

"It's fucking hot as balls," Black Star exclaimed. He groaned and opened the tent flaps some more. His tank top had been discarded and thrown on the floor in a rage a few seconds earlier. "Fuck this _heat_ ," he yelled, plopping on the floor on the tent next to Tsubaki.

Everyone had woken up that morning sweating from the heat. Maka had tied up the flaps at the entrance of the tent in an attempt to get some airflow and cool the inside of the tent down. Tsubaki had ripped up a tank top that was too small for her to make a crop top for Maka to wear. She flapped the bottom of the shirt, trying to dry the sweat on her stomach and chest.

"As long as we don't run out of water we should be fine," she said. She hadn't changed out of her volleyball shorts from the day before and was relieved that they were so short.

"Just sit still Black Star," Tsubaki said, putting a wet rag on Black Star's forehead. "You moving is just creating more body heat."

"The only good thing about this weather is that tiny top of yours babe," he mumbled half-heartedly with a smirk.

Tsubaki laughed and stroked her boyfriend's blue hair. She was wearing a bralette she had sewn together with the leftover fabric from her tank top.

"It gets like this sometimes after it rains," Soul told Maka. "Really hot, really dry. This world has weather patterns that you just have to get used to."

"Fuck this heat," Black Star grumbled.

"Well I'm used to it anyway," Soul chuckled. He fanned himself and looked down at his shirt. Large sweat stains were sticking to his skin uncomfortably.

Black Star yelled again in rage and reached down to the waistband of his boxers. Both he and Soul had stripped to their underwear and pajama shirts when they had rolled up the mats.

"Black Star, I fucking swear. If you take off your underwear I'm gonna fucking punch you," Soul warned.

Eugene, sitting next to Maka, giggled. She sighed and looked at her blue-haired friend as Soul pulled his shirt off.

"Don't go nude, Black Star," she said. She sighed. "I don't want to see that."

"Not everyone can appreciate this hot bod I guess," Black Star laughed.

"Shut up," she laughed. She yanked Soul's shirt from his grasp and threw it at her laughing friend.

"Ah, fuck!" Black Star shot up, sitting up straight and throwing Soul's shirt away from his face as the wet rag, now mildly warm, fell from his face. "That's gross, Soul. Ugh, your B.O. I fucking swear. A sweat stain landed right on my face- my mouth was open!"

Soul shrugged and pulled his hair up into a small ponytail at the base of his neck. "Hey, it's a hot day, we don't have deodorant." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know what you expect." Hearing a quiet giggle, he looked over at Eugene. "You're gonna get stinky too when you grow up."

Eugene pinched his nose and blew a raspberry.

"You're gonna get stinky," Soul said. He leaned over Maka's lap and started to poke and tickle Eugene's sides. "Stinky, stinky."

"Soul, it's too hot for this," Maka sighed. "I don't want your body heat." She nudged his arm as he looked up at her and stopped tickling Eugene.

"Oh," Black Star smirked. "Soul, she's ticklish."

"Black Star," Maka said in a scolding tone as Soul grinned widely. She yelled in surprise when she felt Soul start to tickle her sides. She laughed and tried to push him off as he crouched over her, her shirt riding up and exposing her sides more.

"That's what you get for throwing his smelly shirt at me," Black Star said triumphantly.

Maka tried to crawl away as she caught her breath. She was smiling widely until she turned and saw Soul over her shoulder. She gave a screeching laugh as he pulled her back to him to tickle her sides again.

"Soul," she gasped between laughs. "Stop."

Black Star laughed as Maka shoved Soul's face away, both laughing. Someone cleared their throat at the entrance of the tent. She looked up, still smiling widely, to see Kid with Liz and Patty behind him. The two were wearing matching tank tops and shorts and Patty was giggling.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," Kid said, a deadpan expression on his face.

"You're not," Maka said with a laugh. "Is there a meeting today?"

Kid shrugged. "Not exactly. We came over here to see if you all were here so we could clear up any questions you may have and to talk about room arrangements and who will be doing what. That kind of stuff."

"Well we're all here," Tsubaki said. She motioned for the three to enter the tent. "Why don't you come in."

Kid nodded and the three came into the tent, sitting down on the floor by the rest of the group.

Liz sighed and said, "This heat huh."

"Fuck this heat," Black Star said.

"That's the twentieth time you've said that," Soul grumbled. Eugene nodded from his side.

"I'm not a big fan of heat either," Kid said, brushing his hair out of his eyes. Maka looked at his Lines of Sanzu glad that he no longer felt the need to wear his hat anymore.

"So rooming arrangements," Maka said.

"Yes. Two to a room. You and Tsubaki, Liz and Patty, Soul and Black Star. I will be rooming alone." Kid looked at Maka as she shifted towards him. She was between Soul's legs which were stretched and spread out to make room for her to sit. "Our rooms will all be in the same hall so that we can be close together. Best case- they will be right next to each other."

Maka nodded. "And you know where we will rent our rooms?"

"Yes. There is an inn close to the academy that we will be staying at," Kid responded. He watched as Maka shifted her legs over one of Soul's to face him, not moving from her spot between them. "When getting the rooms, someone else will have to get them. I need to keep my eyes hidden."

"I can do it," Soul said. He leaned forward, arm resting over Maka's legs.

"Okay," Kid said. He looked to Eugene, the boy leaning against Soul's side. "Have you made the adjusted living arrangements?"

"Yes," Tsubaki put in. "I told Marie yesterday sometime before dinner."

Kid nodded. "I'm sorry that you're being separated to do this," he said apologetically.

"It's okay," Maka said with a wave of her hand. "As long as he's safe, it's fine. I'm glad he chose Marie." She ruffled the boy's hair and he smiled widely up at her.

"Hey, Tsubaki," Liz said.

Tsubaki looked up at the blonde woman. "Yes?"

"Your top is really cute. Where did you find it?" Liz asked.

"It's actually the bottom of the shirt that Maka's wearing now," the dark-haired woman replied. Maka straightened her back to show Liz the frayed bottom of her shirt, gesturing with her hands. "It was originally a shirt that was too small for me so I cut part of it off and gave the top half to Maka and used the bottom to sew a bralette together for myself."

"Well you're really good at sewing," Liz said. "Nimble hands can come in handy when being a medic."

"Thank you," Tsubaki said.

The two smiled at each other. Maka smiled and sighed. She felt Soul's arm tense and looked at him in concern.

"Soul, what…" She stopped when she saw that he was looking at the entrance. She followed his line of sight and noticed that Tsubaki was getting up. There was a small cat sitting at the door with a basket by its side.

"Blair!" Tsubaki greeted.

Maka watched in awe as there was a _poof_ of what looked to be smoke and in the small cat's place was a tall woman with purple hair and cat ears. She hugged Tsubaki, and gave her a happy smile.

When Maka tried to get up, Soul's arm held her legs down. "Stay here or she'll suffocate me," he whispered. Kid gave him a strange look and he muttered, "Trust me."

"You must be the god's son!" Blair said happily. Kid looked at her and stood.

"Death the Kid," he said, holding a hand out to shake.

"I'm Blair," she greeted as she shook his hand enthusiastically.

"Stand with me," Soul said, standing and pulling Maka up with him. She stumbled a little, catching Blair's attention. Eugene stood up too and walked between Maka and Kid.

"Hello," Blair greeted.

"Hi," Maka said. "I'm Maka."

"Blair." The purple-haired woman grinned widely and looked her up and down. "You don't smell like a demon."

"I'm human," Maka said. "Like Black Star, I fell from the Surface."

"How?" Blair asked, cocking her head to the side.

"I slipped in the rain and fell down a manhole," Maka sighed.

"Bummer," Blair said, scrunching her nose up. She looked behind Maka and her eyes zeroed in on Soul. He was staring hard that the back of Maka's head. "Soul," she said in a sing-song voice. "Soul, it's been so long!"

Maka felt a tug on her hand and looked down to see Eugene tugging on her hand. She heard a squeal and looked to Blair. The woman's arms were wide and she was preparing to jump in Maka's direction. Guessing she was heading for Soul, Maka made an attempt to duck out of the way. Eugene stepped closer to Kid and pulled Maka away from Blair and Soul. She lost balance for a moment until she felt arms wrap around her waist. She collided with Kid, causing him to move back a step. Eugene let go of her hand.

"Are you okay," he said, settling her on her feet.

"Yeah, I just lost my balance," Maka said, looking up at him. She moved her hand from his elbow to his shoulder.

"That's the second time now that we've collided," Kid said in a teasing tone.

Maka giggled. "Maybe it's a sign."

The two smiled at each other barely hearing the sounds of struggle coming from Soul. Maka hummed and blinked. Kid's hands were still on her waist and his thumbs were lightly tracing circles on her skin. She blinked two more times.

"Ah-" she rasped. Clearing her throat, she allowed her hand to fall from Kid's shoulder and stared owlishly up at him. "Sorry if I'm sweaty or sticky."

Kid chuckled and slipped his hands down her hips and back to his sides. "You aren't, Maka don't worry. I…" He looked past Maka and trailed off with a look of confusion on his face.

Maka turned and snorted when she saw Soul standing, his face in Blair's chest. His face was barely visible because of the woman's large chest, but Maka could see that his nose was bleeding.

"So that's what he meant," Kid said.

Maka laughed.

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 **I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, but candypop96 and NickyRockit especially for being such loyal readers and reviewers. I, for whatever reason, am unable to respond to your reviews on PM so I want to thank you here in the AN.**

 **Super random but my allergies have been especially bad this year and half the time I can't tell if I caught a cold or if I'm just being attacked by the allergens. I also might not be able to post next week because of end of the year projects and tests before my exams next month. I'll try to at least post this weekend, but I make no promises.**

 **Sorry for any mistakes and thank you so much for reading. I hope everyone has a wonderful week.**

 **-littlecat**


	23. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One

Maka scrunched her nose in disgust as she watched Black Star shove his fourteenth pumpkin puff in his mouth whole. She had eaten two herself, and thought they were quite delicious, but watching Black Star eat had made her lose her appetite.

"Fifteen," she whispered as he shoved another pumpkin puff in his mouth.

Kid shifted closer to her and whispered, "I thought they were delicious, but this sight might ruin it for me."

Maka giggled and sipped on her tea. In the basket Blair brought, there were pumpkin pasties and pies. The group had stayed in the tent to eat the pastries. It was very late in the night and Tubaki had prepared cups of the jasmine tea that Kid had bought.

Kid looked at Eugene as he shifted in Maka's lap and placed his empty mug on the floor of the tent. The boy rested his head on Maka's exposed midriff and curled into a ball. Maka wrapped an arm around him and downed the rest of her tea. She placed her empty mug down next to Eugene's and leaned back on her free arm.

Blair had turned back into a cat and was sleeping on the desk in a bundled up coat. She talked to Tsubaki for a while before that and teased Soul some more. Black Star and Tsubaki were cuddled up together in a large blanket on their mat and Tsubaki was lovingly watching Black Star eat while she sipped on her tea. The sun was setting fast, and the air was getting cooler and cooler as the time passed. Soul got up to close the tent flaps and plopped down on his mat which Liz and Patty were sitting on as well. Maka was sitting on her own mat with Kid beside her.

Maka had changed into a knee-length flowy skirt while Tsubaki was making the tea and out of her shorts. She shifted the edges of the skirt to cover her legs more as she felt goosebumps rising on her legs and arms.

"Are you cold?" Kid asked.

"Just a little," Maka said. Watching as Kid got up to get her a blanket, she felt Eugene shift to face her stomach more. "Thank you," she said when Kid wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.

"Looks like everyone's just sleeping here," Kid said softly.

Maka looked around again. Liz and Patty were curled up next to each other, a blanket on top of them. Maka looked at Tsubaki and Black Star. Tsubaki had fallen asleep and Black Star was gently laying her down on the mat. Maka smiled warmly when he laid down behind her and adjusted the blanket on top of them.

"Looks like they are," Maka whispered back.

Soul was pouring himself another mug of tea. "I'm going to sleep after this mug." He swallowed a large gulp of tea. "It seems like we have a never ending supply of blankets and coats, so stay warm." He downed the rest of his tea and blinked sleepily. "You kids behave yourself."

"What do you think we'll do Soul?" Maka laughed quietly.

"No fooling around or running off," Soul yawned widely.

Maka leaned closer to him and smirked. "We make no promises." Soul smiled and chuckled. Maka giggled. Leaning back, she said, "Good night Soul."

"Good night Maka, Kid," Soul said. He faced away from the two and Kid dimmed the oil lamp.

"No promises, huh?" Kid teased quietly.

"Forbidden love," Maka whispered, remembering what the two said after the shadow had visited Kid's tent.

"It's so wrong," Kid chuckled.

"Then why does it feel so right?" Maka laughed.

Kid rubbed his arms as he chuckled to himself. Maka shifted closer to him and wrapped part of the blanket around him to the best of her ability with Eugene still on her lap. Kid took the blanket from Maka so she could adjust the still sleeping Eugene. He wrapped the blanket around Maka's shoulders, hand brushing her side when he was dropping it. She flinched away.

"I'm sorry," Kid said as he set his hand behind her and leaned into it.

"No, I'm just ticklish on my middle is all," Maka assured him.

"Is that what we walked in on this afternoon?" Kid asked.

Maka laughed lightly. "Yeah. I threw Soul's sweaty shirt at Black Star and it smelled bad so Black Star told him I was ticklish."

Kid nodded.

"That wasn't an invitation," Maka warned. "If you tickle me I'll elbow your chest. And I have a very boney elbow."

"Oh damn," Kid muttered into Maka's ear. "My plans have been foiled."

Maka laughed quietly and turned. She shifted to face Kid, straightening her legs and setting Eugene on her lap. She laid her legs on top of Kid's crossed legs and looked up at him.

"I've saved the day," she teased.

"Yes you have," Kid said, smiling.

Maka smiled back and looked into Kid's eyes, admiring their rich and beautiful golden color and she could feel his breath on her skin. She felt Eugene shift in her lap and looked down to see the boy trying to lean into Kid. She shifted to get closer to Kid, ending up halfway on his lap as Eugene burrowed between the two. Maka felt Kid's arm wrap around her to make sure that she was steady, the skin he touched tingling after his skin traced over hers.

"You're really warm," Maka said, leaning into him.

"So I've been told," Kid said. "Liz has called me a space heater before."

"Well you'd make a very good space heater," Maka said, arms wrapping around Eugene loosely. "Is it okay I just sit here like this for a while? Eugene and I really enjoy the heat. Deserts get really cold when it's night time."

"It's fine," Kid said softly.

He lifted his hand off of her waist to lightly pull out her ponytail. Her hair fell on their shoulders, a bump in the sandy blonde locks from being up all day. Kid started to lightly brush his fingers through her hair with gentle fingers. She allowed him to untangle her hair, not caring that some of it was slightly clumped together from dried sweat. He didn't seem to care anyway.

Maka woke up the feeling of something shifting against her side. It was warm and when it left her skin, she felt cold. She didn't open her eyes, but she could tell that it was still dark out. Groaning, she tiredly grabbed whatever it was and pulled it closer. She buried her face in this warmth and gave a small smile as she fell asleep again.

When Maka next woke up, she felt something playing with the hem of her shirt. She assumed it was Eugene and allowed him to continue as she kept her eyes shut. She was about to drift off when she felt something tickling her neck. She giggled and leaned away from it.

"Maka," she heard someone say.

She shook her head and covered her face with the blanket. It was bright in the tent, meaning she probably slept to midmorning.

"Maka as much as I love how soft your skin is, I should be getting up right now to get back to my tent."

Her eyes snapped open. Kid's golden eyes were staring at her, and amused gleam lighting them up.

"I think we're the last ones to wake," Kid said.

Maka sat up slowly. She had been sleeping on Kid's arm which fit in with the curve of her waist as she slept on her side. One of her legs was between Kid's and the other was on top of his, hitched around his ankle. She untangled their legs and allowed the blanket to slip from her shoulders as she stretched, arms up, back arched.

"This is going to do nothing about the rumors," Kid said, resting his head on his hand. He watched her stretch and took in her fair skin and the freckles scattered every now and then from the sun.

"Hmm yes," Maka hummed. "The scandal that started when you made the announcement and we walked out hand and hand."

"Yes those rumors," Kid said. "Have you actually heard any?"

"Just whispers here and there," Maka said.

"Nothing too bad, right?" Kid asked. Maka looked down at his as she smoothed down her hair from its messy bedhead.

"No," Maka said, after thinking for a moment. "Just relationship stuff." She snorted and said, "I think I've heard someone call me 'Death's girl' or something along those lines."

Kid chuckled. "I haven't heard anything bad either, which is great. I'd hate for bad rumors to be spread about you because of me."

Maka smiled warmly down at Kid. "Well thank you for thinking about me," she said softly.

Kid smiled and sat up and adjusted the black t-shirt he was wearing. Maka watched as he smoothed down his already well-tamed hair. She stood and smoothed down her skirt before grabbing a shirt and a pair of shorts and going to the sheet in the corner of the tent. She quickly changed and placed her dirty clothes in the laundry sack. Kid was still wearing the faded black jeans that he had been wearing the previous morning.

"Aren't you going to have a fun walk of shame?" Maka teased.

Kid sighed. "I suppose everyone will see me." He looked at the entrance as Maka pulled on socks and did the first button of her baseball-tee.

"Maybe everyone will just think we had an overnight meeting," Maka said. "I mean everyone else slept here too. We just happened to sleep in later than everyone else-" Maka was cut off my the sound of her stomach growling.

"We should get breakfast," Kid said, watching as Maka quickly put her hair in a ponytail.

"Food sounds great," Maka responded with a smile." The two pulled on their shoes and walked out of the tent

There weren't many beings out on the campground to the duo's relief. They walked to the food supply, idly chatting to fill the quiet of the inactive campground. When they got to the food , there were only a few beings in the building. Maka barely gave them a glance as she rushed to the food. She excitedly filled a bowl with oatmeal and added honey and granola. When she got a spoon, she tapped her foot impatiently as she stood and waited for Kid to get his food. As she waited for Kid, who she could tell was going slow just to irk her, she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

When she turned, she was faced with the man she had patched up in the medical tent that had hit on her. "Oh, hello," she said.

"Hey. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about that whole thing in medical," the man coughed out. His face was flushed and he wasn't looking Maka in the eye. "I just- you're so cute and I thought that maybe…"

Maka cleared her throat. "It's okay, really," she said as Kid walked over.

"I just didn't-" he cut himself off when he saw Kid stand next to Maka. He looked up at him nervously. "Sir, I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that she's Death's girl." The man gave a jerky salute before quickly walking away.

Maka watched, cocking her head to the side as she ate and hummed.

"So Death's girl," she said. "Do they realize that we aren't in a relationship?"

Kid chuckled. "I think it's a little late to try and fix this," he said. "Death's girl."

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 **Ah. I won't update next week because of exams BUT after that I have no more school! I'm very ready for summer. Not exams though. They'll kick my ass. I hope you've all had a wonderful day and I wish a wonderful week ahead of you.**

 **Thank you for reading and sorry for any errors in this chapter. If you have exams soon, I hope you all pass with flying colors.**

 **-littlecat**


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